Nancy HARROWEN

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HARROWEN: Nancy Isabel Harrowen began her journey in this world on June 26, 1922 in Souris Manitoba, the daughter of Jerry and Lilly May Suddaby. Her only sister, Helen Mary, died shortly after birth so Nancy grew up in the midst of her five rambunctious brothers Jerry, Reg, Harry, Jack and Gordon. She was always her daddy’s girl and although she lost him at a very young age, her eyes gleamed with delight any time she recounted stories of her father…him teaching she and her brothers to swim in the Souris River or waiting for him, an engineer on the railroad, at the train station in Souris to return from a run with a special treat. She also loved to reminisce about the train trips she and her mother would take to Ontario in the summers to visit relatives….friendships were made during those trips that lasted a lifetime. The one sad story she recounted from her early years was the sorrow of losing her brother Gordon in combat during WWII. In his remembrance a picture of him, in his uniform, remained on her dresser from the day he died until the day she died. Anyone that knew Nancy would tell you that she was an extremely talented pianist. She had a beautiful voice and the Harrowen household was always filled with music…her piano took a prominent position in the living room. She also loved to dance and it was at a dance in Souris in the early 1940’s where she met her future husband George. Soon after that, at the ripe old age of nineteen, she and George were married and she moved to Brandon where they resided together for the next sixty one years. Their love of dancing continued throughout their entire married life. Nancy spent much of her of her life taking extremely good care of those around her…she was an outstanding cook and baker…no one could make maple fudge, apple crisp, lemon meringue pie or Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding like Nancy. She was also a lovely knitter … when her first grandchild Mellissa was born she had more hand knitted blankets, booties, sweaters and bonnets than she could ever begin to wear. Once all of her children became more self reliant she decided to venture out into the workforce and worked first at Black Bond Books and later as the Activity Director at the International Nursing Home. She really enjoyed this time in her life and continued to work after George retired. At that point they did a real role reversal - she was out in the work world and he was at home doing the cooking and cleaning. Nancy always had a flair for personal style and fashion and she also loved decorating her home…which was always fastidiously neat and tidy!! She loved to have a glass of wine while watching her “plays”. She was also a professional golf and hockey coach (at least in her own mind) always offering arm chair advice and encouragement to Tiger Woods and Wayne Gretzky her two all time favorites!! For more than sixty years Nancy and George spent their summers at their cabin in the Old Campgrounds at Clear Lake. Saturday nights were always spent having a great time with friends until the wee hours and usually ended up with a good old fashioned sing song in the Jamboree Hall at the end of fourth street north!! In addition to their leisure time spent at Clear Lake they also enjoyed travelling to locations such as Florida, Hawaii and Mexico. Nancy was a devoted member of St. Matthews Cathedral for many years and was involved in many volunteer church activities. After retirement she also spent time volunteering at several of the personal care homes in Brandon playing the piano and leading sing songs. About a year after George passed away in 2001, Nancy moved to the Village Green Seniors Residence. Living at Village Green was a great transition place for Nancy and she enjoyed meeting many new acquaintances and friends. She especially liked to attend the monthly dinners that always included wonderful entertainment. Nancy resided happily at Village Green until late in 2010 when health concerns required her to move to Fairview Personal Care Home. We, her family, were very happy to know that during the time of her life when she needed assistance that we could not provide that she resided amongst some very lovely people in a place with some very caring staff. If she had been able to verbalize this, we know that she would have wanted to us thank them for their kindness and compassion. After a life very well lived, Nancy departed this world on Saturday, April 7, 2012 in her 90th year. We will always miss her beyond what words can express but we are comforted by our wonderful memories and our belief that she is in now the hands of God and reunited with those she loved that left this life before her. She is survived by her daughters Marsha Giles, Vicky Deprez (Doug) and Donna Harrowen. Her grandchildren Mellissa Giles Sinclair (Scott); Ryan Deprez (Lisa) and Jenna Deprez (Daryl Steinthorson) and great grandchildren Jaxton and Calla Sinclair. She is also survived by good friend Peter Eves who she could always rely on to do all the jobs that she felt only a man could do properly; sisters-in-law Dorothy Haynes, Hazel Suddaby and Janet Suddaby; and several nephews and nieces. A private family service honouring Nancy’s life was held on Saturday, April 14th at St. Matthews Cathedral and her ashes interned in the Columbarium according to her wishes.

As published in Brandon Sun on Apr 28, 2012