Della May Chase MacBean

1921 - 2016

Our beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, great great grandmother Della May (Chase) MacBean born April 10, 1921, passed away peacefully February 19, 2016 at the age of 94 years. Della was born in Bield, Manitoba on the family farm. At the age of 15, Della moved with her parents and 8 siblings to the Belgo in Kelowna in 1936. Della married Carl Green on October 15, 1938. They moved to Ontario in 1948. They had 3 daughters. They were married for 23 years. On January 17, 1966 Della married Angus MacBean. Angus had 3 sons. Della, Angus and Faye moved to Kelowna in 1973. Della worked at the packing house until she retired. Della was an avid gardener and she always enjoyed being outdoors. Della was kind hearted, had a fantastic sense of humour and she will be greatly missed. Della is predeceased by her parents Fay and Ray Chase, her first husband Carl Green, brothers; Ronald, Gordon, Forrest, Clarence, and sister Viola Olson. Della is survived by her husband Angus MacBean of 50 years, sisters; Olga Morrison, Clara (Gene) Robbins, Evelyn High, daughters; Joyce Wilson, Gwen (Tony) Hnetka, Faye (Rob) Willms, stepsons; Mike (Debbie) MacBean, Robert (Leila) MacBean, Rick (Judy) MacBean. At the time of Della’s passing, she had 11 grandchildren, 10 step grandchildren, 30 great grandchildren, 4 step great grandchildren and 26 great, great grandchildren. Prior to the service there will be a visitation at 12:30 pm. Funeral Service will be held at 2:00 pm Friday February 26th at Valleyview Funeral Home, 165 Valleyview Road. A passion of Della’s was MADD so if desired, please send donations to MADD, #9-3151 Lakeshore Road Ste. 251, Kelowna, BC V1W 3S9. Condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.valleyviewfuneralhome.com. Arrangements in care of Valleyview Funeral Home, 250-765-3147.

Eulogy

Hello I am Amy, I am married to Della’s grandson Glen Willms

The family has asked me to read a few words they wrote about Grandma, Della to celebrate her life.

Della was born April 10, 1921 on the family farm near Bield, Manitoba. Della was the 4th child of 8 siblings. With 9 kids, there was always something happening and going on.

Della told a story about her and her brother Ronald taking eggs and cream to the train depot in Bield. They didn’t have much time. They had a type of van pulled by horses. They were driving across fields pretty fast when the van upset. Della yelled “Whoa”!! Ronald said “that won’t do any good” but they looked and there stood the horses! Ronald got some wire off David Chase’s fence to fix the van and they carried on to Bield. Della said she had on felt boots with rubber boots over them. One of Della’s boots was full of frozen cream. There were lots of broken eggs too!

Della’s parents were Fay and Ray Chase. In 1936 they bought an orchard in the Belgo area. Della was 15 years old then. It was a big change for the whole family coming from a large two story farm house to a small 2 bedroom house. Della said her mother’s prize dining room table and chairs sat on the front lawn in a crate for two years.

Della always said she was considered a “Tom Boy” when she was young because she and her best friend May Sargenia always loved to play football and baseball with the boys. Which is not a surprise to us considering how much she enjoyed to play games.

In the year 1938, Della and two of her siblings got married. Ronald in March, Viola in June and Della in October.

Della married Carl Green. They were married for 23 years. Carl had a motorcycle at the time and he bought a sidecar so that Della could ride with him - that showed she had spunk. Carl and Della had two daughters born in Kelowna, Joyce and Gwen. Gwen was actually born at the historic Guisachan Dairy. Carl was a milkman there at that time.

In 1948, it was hard to find work in Kelowna, so Della and Carl decided to move to Ontario. They packed up all of their personal belongings in a pick-up truck making a bed in the back for Joyce and Gwen to sleep in and they hit the road. There were lots of adventures along the way including a bear peering into the back of the pick-up where Joyce and Gwen were sleeping. Carl banged on the side of the truck to scare the bear away.

Della was always a very hard worker. She did house cleaning part time. She also had a half acre of land with most of it a garden. One time one of the neighbours was trimming a weeping willow tree and Della asked if she could have a branch. She stuck the branch in the ground and it didn’t seem long before there was a good size tree there. It was even big enough to hang a swing in it. Della and Carl had another daughter Faye, born in Ontario almost 17 years after Gwen. Faye got to swing on the swing hanging in the weeping willow tree too!

In 1962, Carl passed away at the young age of 47 years. Faye was only 3 years old when her dad died.

Della married Angus MacBean in 1966 and it was their 50th Wedding anniversary just this past January.. Angus was in the army at the time and stationed in New Brunswick, so off Della and Faye went to live in New Brunswick. Della now had 2 boys, Mike, Bob as well as Faye to raise with Angus. Angus’ youngest son, Rick continued to live with his grandmother. They moved back to Ontario in 1968. Della already had a home there and Angus stayed in the army for another two years based in Ontario.

In 1973, Della, Angus and Faye moved to Kelowna. Della worked in the packing house until she retired. Della grew lots of raspberries and strawberries and she kept her daughter’s well supplied. She did love to garden and just be doing anything outside.

Della was always there to help out different people in the family. She also loved to play games and could still play Yahtzee at the age of 94. She also loved the game of Euchre, a game that we play a lot as family still and whenever we play, we are always reminded that Della would make it trump on next to nothing - and she would always win!! She was a very lucky lady!

In January 2010, Della moved into Springvalley Care Centre. She had very nice care aids that cared for her lovingly. She was always quick witted and she had a saying for everything. She would often have the residence and the staff in stitches. Della was pretty easy going and not demanding. She was well liked. Della also always just enjoyed watching people and she especially enjoyed the little ones. She would smile continually whenever the little grandchildren or great grandchildren or great great grandchildren came to visit.

Della’s legacy includes Angus, 3 daughter’s, 3 step sons, 21 grandchildren, 34 great grandchildren and 26 great great grandchildren and leaves us all with a big hollow in our hearts. She will be missed and loved always!

Daughter Faye wanted something said about her mom.

Hi I am Ashley France Della’s Great Granddaughter and I am reading this for my Aunt Faye Willms

My mother was kind hearted, generous and loved surprises. My mom was at Springvalley care home for the last 6 years. She was well liked there. For the first few years she could have everyone laughing with her little funny comments.

I went often to see her at the nursing home and most days when she saw me she would give me such a nice big smile. It made it all worthwhile. She was very caring and supportive and she knew how busy I was and how everything seemed to fall on me. She rarely complained and you could drop in just for a few minutes and she was always glad see you. She never made you feel guilty when you had to leave.

Mom loved kids. She got a lot of pleasure out of seeing the little people. She was very proud of how many grandchildren, great grandchildren and great great grandchildren she had.

I know I am going to feel very lost for a long time. It was my habit to go visit mom after work almost everyday. Sometimes we would play a game, and I would feed her supper. I know she is in a better place, but I will miss her a lot for a long time to come.

This is a Women’s Prayer from the Heart and I thought it was appropriate..

A mother's love is the strongest force known to humankind. Neither fire nor wind nor the oceans' mightiest waves can compare to the love a mother has for her children. When a mother's child is sick or in danger, a mother becomes a warrior queen equipped with a power unlike any other—the power of love. She can comfort and heal and teach and guide. She will sacrifice and give until it hurts. She will never stop loving her child. Thank you God for a love so fierce and mighty. Thank you for her love over the years..

Grandson Glen Willms said a few words in memory of his grandma

Hello, my name is Glen Willms, son of Faye & Rob.

My most fond memories of grandma are from 20 year ago or more and some are a bit sketchy for me now.

As a kid I remember riding my bike to grandma's house with brother Carl and playing games with just grandma and me… we visited often and we'd play in the yard, picked berries and got sick on the best apricots in the world.

Walking in the house I'd often see grandma playing solitaire or sitting down for afternoon tea.

A couple times I vaguely remember riding down in a wooden cart to the bunk house where we would spend the night when we visited.

In her later years her memory was not the same, but there was always one memory she had of me that she never managed to forget.

You see, we used play Rack-O quite a bit. Being about 9-10 years old it was pretty important for me to win. With some creative card work I could increase the odds to the point where the games was no longer fun anymore.

After becoming bored with the game I confessed: "Grandma, I don't want to play anymore. I'm tired of cheating"

She never let me forget that and for that, I will never forget her.