Margaret WHITTINGTON

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WHITTINGTON: Margaret Elizabeth (Beth) died at the Brandon Regional Health centre on Saturday, January 5, 2013 at the age of 93 years. Born November 2, 1919, at home on Douglas Street in Brandon, Manitoba, Beth was the fourth of five siblings born to Leonard and Margaret Ann Harriet Rous (Connolly). She attended King George School, Earl Haig Junior High and Brandon Collegiate where she met her future partner and best friend James Melville Whittington. Mel joined the RCAF in 1940 and was stationed at Trenton. Beth traveled to Toronto to meet him and they were married in a little Anglican church in 1941 with Mel’s family present and Beth’s eldest Brother, Ben, there to give her away. They moved to Brandon where Mel was stationed at the Commonwealth Air Training Base and worked as an airplane mechanic. Melissa was born in 1943 and so began Beth’s long career as homemaker and Mom. Their son, Jerry, didn’t arrive until March of 1951. With the addition of one dog, their family was now complete. Although Beth’s focus was primarily on her home and family, she did work outside the home for a while as a nursing assistant at the old Assiniboine Hospital and in home as the office assistant for Mel’s Oil and Gas service business which they ran out of their home on Douglas Street. They were active members of the Legion in Carberry when Mel worked for Plains Western Gas. Beth had the mind of an artist and a lifelong interest in fashion. She seldom ever left home looking less than well put together. Her other passions were fishing, having received a master Angler’s award, and golf. She enjoyed modelling clothes in fashion shows, painting, sewing and various arts and crafts as well as travel. She and Mel spent many winters in Texas after retiring and in 2010 she was privileged to cruise through the Panama Canal. In 2011, she saw the beautiful Hawaiian Islands and after having been wheeled to the beach at Waikiki, she climbed into an outrigger canoe and had the thrill of riding the surf. As a family we spent many happy hours at a lake water skiing, fishing, camping and just having fun. If there was one activity she loved the most, it had to be dancing and Mel was her perfect partner. Watching them glide across the floor was pure joy for us. Beth loved her family and had a special connection with her little ones. She regretted not having met some of her great grandbabies although through Facebook, she was able to see them all, knew their names. This was the way she got to know her granddaughters-in-law as well. Beth is survived by her daughter, Melissa Kusela; granddaughters Teresa Gibbons(husband Scott and their girls, Elora and Clara), Susan Lepp (husband Donald and their children Nicole and Russell), and Son, Gerald Whittington (Wife Kathy and their 6 children, Todd(Stacey and their daughters Allison, Mara and Emily), Andrew and son Kaleb, Joshua (Stacey), Brandon (Ashley and son Robbie), Devon Buske (husband Kyle and son, Logan) and Daughter Brittany. she was predeceased by her husband, Mel and all her siblings. The Ceremony to Celebrate Beth’s life will be held at Memories Chapel, 330-18th Street North on Saturday, January 12, 2013 (TODAY) at 1:30 p.m. Joe Ball, Hospital Chaplain will officiate. Interment will follow in the Brandon cemetery. Friends who wish may make a donation in memory of Beth to the Canadian Diabetes Association, Unit A1, 800 Rosser Avenue, Brandon, MB R7A 6N5. Expressions of sympathy may be made atwww.memorieschapel.com. Arrangements with Memories Chapel & Pre-Planning Centre, 204-727-0330

As published in Brandon Sun on Jan 12, 2013