Jean Martha Chriest

She was the daughter of Sam and Martha Potter, after whom the Potter Greens neighbourhood in west Edmonton is named. She started showing her ponies at the Edmonton Gardens when she was six, and she rode horseback to school in Winterburn, then Northview and Jasper Place. She went to Alberta College and eventually landed in the agriculture department at Edmonton Northlands, where she worked hard and happily for 25 years.

She loved to see everyone at her dinner table. When the family got too big for her home, she would still stuff the turkey, make the jellied salad, and bake mountains of dessert on holidays at her daughter’s house. And when that became too much, she would just supervise. It brought her great joy to be surrounded by her loved ones. She was proud to hear of any accomplishment, and worried when life gave any of us troubles.

Now there is no more pain or struggle, and she is at peace. Imagine her beyond the sunset, riding her beautiful pinto horses.

She leaves her children: Gerry (Kay), Alan (Susan), Lois (Ron) and Don; grandchildren Melanie (Joseph), Krista, Heidi (Clive), Stuart (Nicole), Karen (Christopher), Jason (Janet), Susan (Bill) and Samantha (John); great-grandchildren Kalia, Morel, Lakaya, Lillia, Max, Sam, Billie, Elizabeth, Jonathan, Ashley, Rylin, Kendall, Madison, and Raven; great-great granddaughter Vanessa; her children’s father Ken; stepmother Elsie, stepsister Debbie (Laird), and many others who joined the family through marriage. She will also be missed by cousins, friends, neighbours and fellow volunteers; her second family of co-workers at Northlands; caregivers at Whispering Waters; and her good friend Jack.

A celebration of Jean’s life will be held at the Stony Plain United Church on Wednesday, August 31, at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, she asked that you donate to the church or to Little Bits Therapeutic Riding Association (littlebits.ca).