Mary Shirley Sapchuk Carver

Mary Shirley Carver was born in Mayfair, Saskatchewan on May 25, 1925, where she grew up with brothers Bill and Slowko, and sisters Anne, Minnie, Olga and Helen. It was there she developed her love of farming as she assisted her parents, Mike and Mary Sapchuk, with the many tasks farmers did during the 1920’s and 30’s. She milked cows, rode horses, helped her father manage the horse teams as they graded the gravel roads and took grain to and from the elevators. Mary particularly loved working outdoors with the livestock.

With the advent of World War II, Mary joined the army to serve her country (even though she was not quite old enough). She was stationed in Calgary where she took on the job as a driver, transporting the Generals and the Brigadiers to and from various locations. She gleefully told stories about her escapades during that time. She also told the sad stories about the times she drove the ambulance, transporting wounded soldiers from the trains to Belcher Hospital in Calgary when they came back from Europe.

Mary met Ralph Carver while serving in the army. She and Ralph married and moved to Southern Alberta where they began farming a dry-land farm near Turin where Ralph grew up. Mary worked hard at all aspects of farming, from driving tractors and combines to managing a small herd of cattle. Milking cows and selling the cream helped the farm finances during the years when wheat prices were low or the crops did not do well (most of the time, it seemed). Mary loved her cows and would have happily had a couple of cows grazing in her yard when she retired if the neighbors would have agreed. As it was, she had to be content with cow calendars and cow-print dishes when she and Ralph retired to Kelowna.

Mary and Ralph raised four children in Turin: Maryanne, who lives in Kelowna; Cheri, who lives in Calgary; Greg, who lives in Rocanville, Saskatchewan, and Todd, who lives in Burnaby. Many life-long friends were made there, in particular, Fay and Harold Dunn, and Bert and Ethel Arrowsmith and their respective families. Mary delighted in her grandchildren, adoring them as babies, grimacing as they grew into teenagers and then, once again, adoring them as they became adults.

Mary loved to cook, particularly when the produce came from her own garden which she worked in up until her death. She was thrilled that most of her grandchildren also love to cook and eat homemade soup, dill pickles, canned tomatoes and sauerkraut. Mary’s grandchildren include Liza Reavie, Joel Reavie, Cheryl Murtagh, Andrew Carver, Mathew Carver, Michael Carver, Nicholas Carver, Kurt Carver and Samantha Carver.

Mary loved babies and children. She and Ralph cared for several foster children while living in Turin. When they retired to Kelowna, Mary continued to baby-sit for several years and kept in touch with some of the children as they grew into adults. The newest addition to the family, great-grandson Nathan who will be a year old on September 6 was the ‘smile of her life’. Even though she didn’t really approve of modern technology, she loved visiting with baby Nathan on Skype.

Because of Mary’s love of babies, the family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Kelowna General Hospital Foundation (designated to the children’s ward), 2268 Pandosy Street, Kelowna, BC, V1Y 9Z9 or www.kghfoundation.com .

A gathering in celebration of Mary’s life will be held from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., on Saturday, September 7, 2013 at 165 Venus Road, Kelowna, BC.

Condolences may be left for the family through www.valleyviewfuneralhome.com.

Arrangements entrusted to Valleyview Funeral Home, Kelowna, BC 250-765-3147.