Mildred Florence Armstrong Annear

(1921-2014)

On Saturday, January 11, Mildred died peacefully in her assisted-living home in Aurora, Ontario.

Mildred was born on a farm in Brooke Township near Alvinston, Ontario, to Wellington and Ethel (nee Lovell) Armstrong. She left home in 1939 to attend London Normal School and thereafter became a music specialist in schools throughout Lambton County.

In 1942, she married Robert (Bob) Wilfred Alexander of Norwich Ontario. Her father and her husband died on the same day in 1944, one of heart failure, the other as a Squadron Leader in combat in WW2, leaving Mildred a single parent of their son Jim. With her mother’s help, Mildred raised her son and continued to teach school.

In 1952 she met William Cameron Annear, a family doctor and general surgeon who had recently moved to Sarnia from New York City. They married, made a home and many friends in Sarnia, and had five children. When Cameron passed away in 1980, Mildred moved to London, Ontario, where she built a new home and lived independently for 24 years. In 2005, no longer wishing to live alone, she chose to move to the Sunrise Senior Residence in Aurora.

Besides her parents and her husbands Bob and Cameron, she was predeceased by brothers Kenneth, aged one, Reginald, aged four, Elmer, aged twenty-one, and Doug, aged 92. She is survived by her son, Jim Alexander (Jane); daughter, Mary Jane Ross (Peter); daughter, Ellen Vassallo (Lawrence); son, Bill Annear (Patty); son, Doug Annear; and son, Gord Annear (Terry); and their children, and children’s children; and by her brother, Grant Armstrong (Virginia).

Mildred was selfless yet remarkably self-disciplined. Her unwavering devotion to Cameron and their family enabled him to carry out a medical practice that served the community of Sarnia for 31 years. Their sense of duty - his as a doctor and hers as a wife and mother - was unremitting. Her love of family and friends, God and church, music, gardening and travel held a special place in her heart. Her children will remember her with love and gratitude.

A memorial service is to be held at 2PM Saturday, January 18, 2014 at Thompson Funeral Home, 530 Industrial Parkway South, Aurora, ON.

In accordance with her wishes, her ashes will be interred with Cameron’s at a later date. Donations may be made in her memory to Alzheimer’s Research. Condolences may be forwarded to the family through Thompson Funeral Home website www.thompsonfh-aurora.com

The family wishes to thank the care givers at Sunrise, especially Donna and Christine, for their care and love for our mother.