Grace Ray Rachel Parker de Wit

Grace "Ray" de Wit was a modest woman, quiet and observant in her ways. She was trustworthy and traditional in her approach to her life and in her relationships. She was tough-minded with the kind of “stick to it” attitude that earned the respect of all who knew her. She was also a woman who was meticulous, carefully disciplined, and orderly in virtually everything she undertook. Realistic about life, she was always at the ready, prepared to take on responsibility.

Ray was born and raised in England by her parents Charles and Grace Parker. She met Lawrence Sirois during the war, fell in love and was married. She emigrated to Canada as a war bride, landing in the small community of Vonda, Saskatchewan. After Lawrence had finished his schooling as an electrician they moved to Edmonton, Alberta where they started a family with the addition of two daughters, Julie and Annette. The family moved to Calgary in the late 1950's where they set up roots and made many new friends. The family then moved to Izmir Turkey when Lawrence got a job building a missile sight. They lived there for two and a half years, learning many new customs and making many new friends. This experience spiked her great interest in travelling to other areas of the world. She moved back to Calgary in 1963 and opened her own business, Acadia TV, which she owned and managed successfully for many years. After living and travelling on her own for a number of years she met Gerhardus de Wit on a cruise, while travelling with a friend. They developed a relationship and she moved to North Vancouver where they were married. She continued to live out her life in North Vancouver where she made many great friends and enjoyed the company of her family, especially her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Ray held endearing, traditional values about marriage and family life. She took the responsibility of marriage to heart, giving it her total commitment. She was a source of strength to Lawrence and Gerhardus, using her gifts, she worked hard to make her new family happy. She brought the same traditional values in her marriage to bear on how she raised her children. She was a parent who was always firm yet fair in her dealings. Ray was blessed with two children Julie Sirois and Annette Baroldi (Richard), and two step children, Gerald de Wit (Sharon), and Christine Tupper (Robin). She was also blessed with eleven grandchildren Tina, Daina, Robert, Patrick, Ryan, Tyler, Christina, Lea, Jessica, Sandra, and Michael and eleven great grandchildren Fionn, Brooke, Ethan, Hailey, Joshua, Megan, JP, Nicholas, Stefan, Sophie, and Ava.

Ray greatly enjoyed what she did for a living and was a hard worker who expected the same from others. Her primary occupation was a business woman. She was employed in many different careers including insurance and owning her own television store in Calgary in the late 60's and early 70's.

Ray liked to experience things first-hand as well as learn about them. This trait carried over into her hobbies, where she was very methodical in how she organized her activities and categorized things. Since she enjoyed her private time, Ray always tried to allocate a specific time for working on her hobbies. Her favorite pursuits were Volunteering with North Shore Community Policing, The Liberal Association, and The Arthritis Association and she loved collecting donations for needy organizations. In her early years she loved to sew and made outfits for her children, family and friends. She also like to do crafts and enjoyed entertaining but her favorite pastime was cruising the world. Grace was content to enjoy her hobbies alone but was also willing to share her interests with others.

Commitment is a key word that can be used to describe the life of Ray de Wit. She was committed to living the life of a good woman who was both practical and trustworthy. She was committed to the traditional values that she upheld her entire life. She committed herself to being a hard worker who expected the same effort in return from those around her. Most of all, she was committed to those she knew and loved.