Obituary of Marie (Mary) Mayoh

Marie (Emma, Agathe) nee Dalton of Prince Albert, formerly of Debden, Sask. passed away peacefully at Herb Basset Nursing Home in Prince Albert on Mar. 14, 2007 at the age of 87 years. Marie was born Feb. 3, 1920 in Big River. She married Eric in 1940 and together they farmed in the Debden district until the early 1960's. They lived in several places in central Sask. before moving to Prince Albert in 1967. Marie cared for foster children for many years, before opening their home to senior citizens. Eric passed away in 1975. Marie's greatest joys in life were her children and grandchildren, who will miss her dearly. Marie is survived by her children, Bertha (Frank) Smith, James (Penny); Louise (William) Nicklen; Phyllis Mayoh; Gordon (Vivian); John (Brenda), grandchildren Darlene (Daniel) Michel; Cheryl (Maurice) Fortier; Bryan (Roxanne) Smith; Laverne (Edward) Michel; Sandy (Marc) Belair; Michael (Kathy) Mayoh; Leigh (Tricia) Mayoh; Scott (Margaret) Mayoh; Dale Rudd; Dawn (Rick) Rudd; Ivor Rudd; Brent Rudd;Melanie Nicklen; Tracy (Rick) Daniels; Ronald Morrisette; Dwayne Morrisette; Mandy Mayoh and Zack Mayoh, as well as many great grandchildren, nieces and nephews, friends and other relatives. Marie is also survived by sisters Anna Crashley; Gloria (Joe) Marchand and brother Alfred Dalton. Marie was predeceased by her husband Eric in 1975, her parents Delina and Joe Dalton, brothers Joseph and Arthur Dalton, sisters Helen Silljer, Bertha Crashley, granddaughter Donna and grandson Andrew. The prayer service was held on Sunday March 18, 2007 at 7:30 p.m. from St. Jean Baptiste R. C. Church in Debden, SK. Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Monday, March 19th, 2007 at 10 a.m. from St. Jean Baptiste R. C. Church with Rev. Fr. Vincent Karatunga as the celebrant. The cross bearer was Zack Mayoh and the organist was Monica Swendsen. The soloist was Gilles Francoeur and the choir director was Louise Marchildon. The eulogy was read by James Mayoh and the offertory was given by Darlene Michel and Cheryl Fortier. Honorary pall bearers are all relatives and friends who shared in Mary's life and the active pall bearers were Gordon Mayoh, John Mayoh, Michael Mayoh, Brent Rude, Ron Morrissette and Ben Fortier. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Herb Bassett Home or the Alzheimer Society of Canada. The family greatly appreciates the years of compassionate care Marie received at the Herb Bassett Home. Marie was laid to rest in the Debden Cemetery. The following is the eulogy read by James Mayoh: Thank you all for coming to remember and honor our mother, Marie (Mary) Mayoh. She was born February 3, 1920 to Delina and John Dalton in Big River, SK. She was the oldest in a family of nine. Mary's dad worked in the logging industry and also drove teams of horses on freight swings. After the big fire around Big River, the family moved to Wanakena. Grandpa and Grandma farmed and raised their family there, next door to the school. Mom married our father, Eric, on July 22, 1940. From this union, six children were born. Our parents farmed in the Debden area until the early 1960's. They lived in several places in central Saskatchewan before settling in Prince Albert in 1967. Our father passed away in 1975 leaving mom to raise a 14 year old son. You cannot really describe anyone because people are much too complicated to be described in words. However, we would like to describe our mother as best we can. It is a short description and is simply generosity. She never had many material goods she could share, but this was of no consequence since what she had to share and what meant so much to her family was love, support, guidance and when necessary, forgiveness. Her main focus in life was her family. She had high expectations, but not high demands for her children and supported whatever they decided to do, regardless of how unfounded some of their decision sometimes were. She did not interfere, but was always there to provide advice or help when these were requested or wanted. When her family wanted anything, it was never a question of whether what they wanted interfered with something mom needed, but rather whether there was some way she could help us achieve what we desired. Mom was very compassionate with others as well. She was always helping people who needed caring for. Our parents opened their home to handicapped foster children for several years. This was a hard job done with love. After mom was no longer able to do this, she opened her home to senior citizens, giving them the same care she gave everyone else. When she finally retired, she could devote her time to her expanded family. She lived in Prince Albert until 1988 when she moved to Big River, living in the Senior Housing for about two years. She moved back to Prince Albert to Sherman Towers, living there until she could no longer live alone. For the past twelve years she lived in the Herb Bassett Nursing Home where she received constant compassionate care. Thank you to everyone who contributed to her care. We would like to share a few special memories with you: Bertha remembers Mom spending hours sewing for us. One Christmas she wanted a new dress for the Christmas concert. It wasn't easy to buy the material, but once purchased, Mom designed and sewed a new dress on the treadle sewing machine, just in time for the concert. Bertha was one happy girl. Bertha also remembers how Mom always tried to please everyone's special palate. When Jim was in university, everyone had to wait until he came home to get a taste of her special Nanaimo squares, Jim's favorite. Louise remembers how Mom loved to have company. Our family didn't go visiting very much, but everyone was welcome in our home. When Bertha got married, they would go to the movies on Saturday night. Following the movie, Bertha and Frank and several others would go to our home. Mom would be so happy to have company. Some to the special company was Paul and Annie Isabelle. You would hear Mom laughing for hours. In anticipation of the company she would spend hours cleaning and baking. Gordon and Jack remember Mom's patience. They never saw her get mad, not even when they decided they needed to try out Daddy's 33 rifle and started target practice. When that wasn't enough, they also had to try the 44-40, Daddy's antique rifle. Of course, that wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't happened in the dirt cellar. Gord says he was nearly deaf. Mom just said, "I don't think that was a very good idea. You won't do that again, will you?" Brenda knew she was welcomed into the family when Mom took her into the basement to show her how to run the washer and dryer. Phyllis has had a special friend for years. Her name is Marian. Mom had a special name for them, the Bobsey Twins. I remember Mom as being very appreciative of little things she received from her family. Although a few years have passed, I still remember how much she liked one very small present I gave her, even though it probably belonged to her all along. I forget what the occasion was, but I decided to write a poem for my mother so I took a knife and removed a large piece of bark from a birch tree growing in our yard and used this to write the poem on. In spite of this surgery being somewhat hard on the tree and the poem likely suffering literally since it was written by a boy of about 12, my mother retained this piece of birch bark for years. She treated pretty well everything else that people gave her or did for her in a similar fashion. Mom loved family gathering and although they were not near as frequent as she would have liked, she was happiest when the house was so full of people that you nearly needed traffic signs to direct people wondering around. She enjoyed seeing a meal that had taken her weeks to prepare suffer the same fate as a wheat field when grasshoppers arrive. Mom, we know how much you loved family get togethers. We hope you are happy today to see your whole family and so many of your friends here, all together to honor you. Christmas was your favorite time of year, because it was family time. We are sure that where ever you are, you will continue to prepare Christmas dinner, knowing that your family will come, if only in spirit.