EVELYN PHOEBE WESTDAL

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EVELYN PHOEBE WESTDAL

January 19, 1921 –

November 25, 2023

We can’t always choose the music life plays for us, but we can choose how to dance to it

And dance she did. Evelyn led the best of all possible lives. She deeply loved her family, and they loved her. To love and to be loved was not elusive to her. She lived to 102 years – basking in the love that surrounded her. 102 years of being loved.

She grew up in what now would be thought of as very modest circumstances. She shared a bed with her sister until the day Isabel was married. She and her friends would swim in the Red River behind Riverview Health Centre and jump off the Elm Park (BDI) bridge. The boys climbing higher.

War years were a scary adventure – but travel and adventure it was. Married to her dear Jack she was allowed to live with him in married quarters on Vancouver Island while flying officer Jack flew his plane over the Pacific, looking for enemy submarines- that he never found. Post war the family lived in northern Manitoba (Norway House and The Pas) while Jack was employed in that quintessentially Canadian occupation, bush pilot. Evelyn, Jack and the children eventually made their way to Winnipeg, where both Evelyn and Jack’s family lived, via postings in Swan River and Neepawa.

Evelyn was a natural beauty and always a stylish sharp woman. She had a strong bond with her grandchildren. They would gather annually to bake traditional Icelandic dishes and then Christmas cake. Decorating Amma’s tree was an essential part of the Christmas season. Being with their Amma at the cottage at Clear Lake holds many special memories for her grandchildren.

Evelyn was predeceased by husband BJE (Jack) Westdal, her beloved son John and two cherished grandsons, David and Paul. She is survived by son Harold Westdal (Heather), daughter Barbara Kirk (Alan), daughter-in-law Heather Westdal, and grandchildren, Tanis, Kimberley, Kristin, Anne, John and Alison, and 15 great grandchildren.

A private interment will be held. There will be a Celebration of Life at Fort Garry United Church, 800 Point Road on December 15, 2023, at 10:30 a.m. A special note of thanks to the staff at Riverview Health Centre. In lieu of donations - take a loved one to dinner and celebrate life.

It isn’t what we leave behind, it’s what we leave in people’s heart’s that counts.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Dec 09, 2023, Dec 09, 2023