Verona Sarah McWhirt

She was born on November 4, 1936, in Okak Bay, Labrador.

Sarah’s life began in the Inuit homeland of northern Labrador. A survivor of Canada’s residential school system, she carried a history that deserves to be remembered and honored. Her children knew her as a determined, hardworking mother whose devotion to them was evident in the life she built and the everyday moments they shared.

Sarah loved sports in nearly every season and form, though football always came first. She watched every Super Bowl from the very beginning and especially loved the San Francisco 49ers and Joe Montana. She also followed hockey, basketball, golf, baseball, and the Summer and Winter Olympics. A Montreal Expos fan before the team moved to Washington, she later became a Chicago Cubs fan while watching games on WGN with Pauline and Jimmie.

Her enthusiasm for a good movie often began with the name Harrison Ford. Sarah loved Indiana Jones enough to buy hats for herself and her children. While taking college courses, she chose to read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? because it inspired Blade Runner. Dustin Hoffman was another favorite, particularly in Little Big Man. Away from the screen, she liked settling in with a puzzle.

Music filled the home her children remember. Motown, folk, early rock, the Beatles, classical music, and the singer-songwriters of the 1970s all had a place. Among her country favorites were Kenny Rogers and Charley Pride, both of whom she saw in concert with her daughter, Linda.

Sarah was preceded in death by her first husband, Roger Ogden; her second husband, Jack Lee McWhirt; her son, Frank John Lampe, affectionately known as “John John”; her daughter, Linda Christina Busch; her stepfather, Elias Nitsman; her adoptive mother, Sybilla Nitsman; her sisters, Hilda Lyall and Sabina Flowers; and her brothers, Ray Hunter, Simeon Hunter, and Philip Hunter.

She is survived by her sons, Percy James Ogden and Jimmie Joe McWhirt; her daughter, Pauline Haas, and her husband, Jeffery L. “Jeff” Haas; her brothers, Joe Hunter and James Nitsman; her grandchildren, Robert Busch Jr., Brad Busch, Kurt Busch Sr., Kathryn Haas, Nicholas Haas, Jennifer Hunter, Eli Lampe, and Harriote Tuglavina; and her great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.

For her children, a familiar song or a Cubs game on television will always hold something of Sarah. These were the things they shared with her, and they will remain part of how they remember being together.

Memorial contributions in Sarah’s memory may be made to the Legacy of Hope Foundation to help preserve residential school survivors’ stories and educate future generations. Donations may be made at https://legacyofhope.ca/donate/.