Verna POTTINGER

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POTTINGER: Verna Isobelle Kipling Pottinger (nee McSorley), passed away unexpectedly at the wonderful age of 96, on Saturday, April 12, 2014. Verna’s parents, Wilford and Pearl McSorley welcomed their eldest of seven children on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 1918. She grew up on the family farm near Deleau, Manitoba, north of Hartney. Leaving the family farm Verna began her career as a waitress at Thelma’s Café in Brandon where she met and married her first husband Earl ‘Kip’ Kipling. Verna and Kip raised their two children, Dale and Beverley on 15th Street; he operating the family Texaco station on Rosser and she working at the Wheat City Arena and eventually as the manager of the Velvet Dip. While day to day employment kept her busy it was her outside hobbies that led to a full and fantastic life. In the seventies she raced stock cars; a regular driver in the Ladies Powder Puff races at the Brandon Stock Car Club. Later she would put her driving skills to use becoming the first female school bus driver in Manitoba. After Kip passed away, Verna eventually remarried William ‘Bill’ Pottinger. Together they enjoyed travelling to curling events. Always on the go Verna joined the Prairie Oasis Cloggers, performing at the Calgary Stampede in 1991 at the age of 73. Verna’s love of chocolate and jelly bellies was eclipsed only by her passion for sewing. Verna loved sharing her sewing passion with others by teaching classes on how to sew items such as jean jackets, teddy bears, and quilts. Occasionally she would add a specific craft project to her litany of handmade items. One of her favorite was teaching young people a course called, ‘Things Only Grandmas Make’. Yet it was the Nifty Needlers group and their many sewing projects that kept her mind sharp and her sewing machine humming. Verna was proud to be a life-long member of Knox United Church. She is survived by her son Dale (Darlene) of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and daughter Beverley Mitchell of Calgary, Alberta. She will be missed by her two grand-daughters Kim Falcon and Brenda-Lee (Mike) Kearney, two great-grandchildren Kayley and Mitchell, as well as her surviving siblings: Mary Terweg of Surrey, BC, Helen Dalton of Abbotsford, BC, and Joyce Tapp of Portola, California. Nieces and nephews, to the third generation will miss Auntie Verna’s call and letters. She was predeceased by both husbands and her son-in-law Howard. A time of visitation will be held at Memories Chapel, 330-18th Street North, on Friday, April 18, 2014 from 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Funeral Service will take place on Saturday, April 19, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. Lydia Glawson, Funeral Celebrant will officiate. Private family interment will be held at Rosewood Memorial Gardens. Friends who wish, may make a donation in memory of Verna to Senior for Seniors, 311 Park Ave East, Brandon, Manitoba, R7A 7A4 or to a charity of choice. 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 Apr 17, 2014