Elsie Anne Reed

Elsie will be lovingly remembered by her children: Richard (Ann): Michael (Deneen) and Denny (Noa); Randy (Jean); Robbie (Donna): Chelsea (Vaughn) Penley - Hailey and Jacob, Jillian (Dillon), and Jordan; Kevin (Susan): Brittany (Jordan), and Kayla; Jocelyn (Gord) Ross: Rochelle and Parker Boskill; sisters Olga (Ralph) Crawford and Jane Towle; brother Walter (Mary) Nazarewich; as well as many nieces and nephews. She is predeceased by her husband Ted; parents John and Mary Nazarewich; and son-in-law Ron Boskill.

Eulogy by Richard Reed, Elsie's son

I would like to thank everyone for being here today, we know that some of you have had to travel a long distance.

Elsie was born in Moose Jaw on March 24, 1937. She met a young man (Ted Reed) at the Police Academy in Regina and they were married on May 18, 1957. They had five children: Richard, Randy, Robbie, Kevin and Jocelyn.

Ted was with the RCMP, and transfers around the province were many. Living in Weyburn, Estevan, North Portal, Spiritwood, and finally North Battleford which was his last posting and what they called home.

After the children were comfortably in school Elsie began to work where she was employed by Dr. Breton for 20 plus years. Elsie took comfort in many things but especially just being with her husband. They shared many things together, skiing, Yatzee, Nintendo, yard work, Kaiser and needle point. Needle point was her passion. Elsie once took a picture that she had needle pointed to get framed. They framed it with the back out, that’s how good she was. Mom enjoyed doing needle point and a number of people received needle point pictures as gifts.

She also had her dog Jeannie, who spent many nights in front of the TV cuddled between Elsie’s leg and the arm of the couch, and no one dared touch the dog for the fear of getting bitten.

Elsie was a devoted mom to her five children, encouraging them in their education and extracurricular activities. We spent many hours in the hockey arena through the winter as we all played hockey, except Jocelyn. We remember mom sitting in the stands coaching us on. Elsie also skied locally at Table Mountain and made several trips to the mountains with Ted and the family.

When the grandchildren came along she welcomed them with open arms and they all liked to visit her, it must have been her sweet tooth. There were always candy and snacks to indulge in.

Elsie was a good cook and always had meals prepared, and supper was always at six. She made some very tasty dainties for Christmas and always made sure there was something everyone liked. Christmas was a big event in our family. There were many gifts for everyone, no one was left out. Many pictures and movies were taken back in the early 60’s. Every now and then when our families are together we still enjoy watching those movies. We were dressed for the occasion, being only 3 to 6 years old we wore dress shirts with bow ties.

Mom spent countless hours working in the yard with dad. One day after the yard was all trimmed up, mom got dad to climb up on the roof of the house to take pictures of the yard from above. This was their pride and joy and changes to the yard were endless.

Elsie and Ted enjoyed going to the Casino to gamble passing time hoping to make it big, and they never missed the free senior money.

They became good friends with their neighbours. I remember mom and dad spending time with Herman and Linda Dyck, bowling together and just being good neighbours. Mom and dad moved to another part of the neighbourhood and became good neighbours with Irma Palik. A side walk and gate was placed between the houses. Many trips were made between the homes for card games, Yatzee and any groceries they ran short of.

Mom was a very strong woman, she had to be for a couple of reasons. One being married to a RCMP member in the early years, and raising four boys was another. Living in small town Saskatchewan, and being married to an RCMP officer mom was faced with a number of challenges.

This takes me back to a book I found in a book store few years ago. The title of the book is “When The Second Man Was A Woman” by Ruth Lee-Knight. The book is about the tales of twenty one RCMP Detachment wives from the 1940’s to 1970’s. I was always intrigued by the early days of the RCMP simply because my father was a member. To my surprise three quarters of way through the book was a chapter called “Elsie’s Detachment Education”. There are a couple pages of stories of Mom’s encounters and how she had to deal with them. Here is one of the stories taken from the book.

Most of Mom and Dad’s postings with the RCMP where in the south, and the first Northern posting was in Spiritwood. Within the first week in Spiritwood, Elsie had a memorable experience. It was late at night when she was awakened from her sleep by a strange noise. Since Ted had gone out on patrol, she initially wondered if he had returned, but realized he wouldn’t be making those noises. It sounded as if someone was stumbling around and falling into things in the living room below. She grabbed her housecoat and snuck down to the living room. She encountered an intoxicated woman who was weaving badly. Elsie was very frightened, but tried to appear firm when she asked her what she wanted. I want my bottle, replied the intoxicated women. I don’t have your bottle, now get out of here Elsie said. The woman just stood looking at Elsie, so again Elsie attempted to steer her toward the door. That proved impossible, since at 115 pounds, Elsie was at a great disadvantage to move the large women. Elsie knowing she couldn’t do this alone ran across the street and got a young man and an elderly lady to help remove the intoxicated women from the building.

The moment Ted arrived home, he knew there had been a problem as the smell of liquor still loomed in the air. When he heard Elsie’s account, he told her they should have placed the women in the cells downstairs. Crestfallen, Elsie replied that she had not been thinking clearly. At the time of this incident she was just twenty-four years old with three children from the ages six months to three years, Richard, Randy and Robbie.

Another story I remember well is one New Years Eve Mom heard the car being driven out of the garage and immediately thought it was Kevin taking the car without permission. She threw on her house coat, a pair of shoes, and went chasing the car down the street yelling at Kevin to bring the car back. In the early afternoon on New Year’s Day Kevin came into the house and Mom tied into him for taking the car. Kevin explained that he didn’t take the car and mom was actually chasing a car thief down the street. The car was later found in Meadow Lake without any gas.

Mom was not a very good driver, that may have been to the fact that dad did most of the driving. One storming winter day Mom was bringing dad back from Saskatoon after a round of cancer treatments. The weather was very bad and mom was having difficulties driving, and Dad was unable to drive due to the medication he was on. Dad was trying to get mom to pull over and let him drive, but mom wouldn’t do that. Finally dad convinced her to pull over at Radisson as he wanted a bottle of water. Mom pulled into the Red Bull and ran inside to get a bottle of water, when she came out dad was behind the steering wheel and wouldn’t let her drive. Mom got in and dad drove back to North Battleford.

We have many stories to tell about our own encounters with Elsie and these will be cherished forever. Although we are sad to see mom pass on, we know the last few years have been very difficult. The move to Saskatoon was a good move for her and we appreciate all the love and attention that our sister Jocelyn and her family were able to provide for her. A special thanks Jocelyn for just being there and to you Gord for your support. When I talked to mom about Gord she had a big smile on her face and gave me a positive I. From my family to all of you, we would like thank all of you for support and for just being here.

Rest in peace mom, you are in a better place with God, your husband and our dad.

Service of Remembrance was held on Thursday, December 5, 2013 from Sallows and McDonald - Wilson and Zehner Funeral Home, North Battleford, with Mrs. Joyce Salie officiating. Cremation Interment took place at the City of North Battleford Cemetery. The family have requested that memorial donations be made to Heart and Stroke Foundation or Saskatoon Convalescent Home Foundation, 101-31st Street West, Saskatoon, S7L 0P6.

The family has placed their trust with Kristeen Thiessen of Sallows and McDonald - Wilson and Zehner Funeral Home, North Battleford. (306) 445-2418