TILLIE LOWE

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TILLIE LOWE

(nee BUGERA)

After a full life of 97 years, Mom passed away peacefully on May 31, 2025.

Mom was born in the rural community of Merridale, Manitoba to a farming family of Ukrainian heritage. Her childhood was the Bennet sisters meet Little House on the Prairie. She was the youngest of seven children. Mom was closest in age to her four sisters, who she adored. The stories of the five Bugera sisters are legendary in our family. They grew up in a time of few luxuries and hard work, yet remembered it as a world filled with natural beauty, a loving family and daily adventure. Mom's childhood was filled with the opportunities for learning that a rural, agrarian setting provides. She gained a respect and appreciation for the natural world and the environment which she championed throughout her life.

After high school, Mom followed her sisters to Winnipeg. She graduated from the Grace Hospital School of Nursing in 1951. In 1952, she married Bill, our Dad, the boy from the farm next door. Our parents' appreciation, respect and love for each other was palpable and constant throughout their life together.

Mom returned to nursing after we all grew up. On her retirement, she was recognized for her dedication to excellence and her compassion.

Mom was creative and artistic, an athlete and a lover of sports, an excellent hostess and cook, an environmentalist and a gardener. She was the best of teachers. Demanding, exacting and tireless yet at the same time supportive, encouraging and ready to celebrate the smallest achievements. She was a perfectionist who never thought herself perfect. She always saw room for growth and improvement in herself, her garden and almost everything else, including her children. She embraced and promoted fitness and nutrition long before they became fashionable. She seemed to be able to fix, design, organize or build anything. She saw value and something to appreciate in everyone.

Mom was that rare combination of ordinary and extraordinary. She had strength, courage and independence mixed with generosity and a genuine concern for others. A mother in the way you want a mother to be, with solid values, a strong moral compass, almost blind devotion and lots of fun. She was grateful for what she perceived as "luck" in her life. She took responsibility for, and never complained about, the hardships.

Mom is survived by her children: Jim (Jean), Patrick, and Jackie (Greg); her daughter-in-law, Josephine, her grand-children, Mark (Genevieve), Kevin (Mary), Scott (Anna) and Christine (Coltin) and a large family of nieces and nephews, all of whom she admired and loved. She will be fondly remembered by her close friends in Kenora, Ontario, where our family lived for many years. She was predeceased by her husband, our Dad, Bill and her son, our brother, Greg.

In keeping with Mom's wishes, a family memorial gathering will be held to commemorate her life and legacy.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jun 07, 2025