Another week...we all continue to be free of any virus or other illnesses. Lockdown is to continue because, while the infection and death rates have gone down the virus has not gone away. To raise the lockdown would risk a spike in the disease. It has been decided that schools will remain closed and, in Scotland, re-open August 11th. The only easing has been for outdoor activities to resume e.g. golf, tennis, people can move away from home farther for exercise. The recycling centres continue to be closed; fly-tipping is quite bad as a result. Other bin collection is continuing but in a reduced, and somewhat irregular, manner.
Don and Carol have contacted us to say that Mary, my mother's youngest sister and the last of that generation, died this week, aged 92. She had not been keeping well and died in the Andover Terrace Seniors Residence in Salmon Arm where she had been living in the last years of her life.
Mary Harrington (nee Sansum; previous married name of Phipps m. Bob Phipps) April 11, 1928 - May 20, 2020
Her daughter, Pat, who lives in Kelowna and is the owner of The Book Bin, emailed to say that there is to be no formal funeral, of course, because of the pandemic in B.C.
* * * * * MARY'S (and my mother's) FAMILY * * * * *
Their family surname is Sansum. Here is a photo taken in 1936 of the 5 children. They are the children of Victor H Sansum and his (deceased) wife Patricia (nee Chadbourn). In the photo is their step-mother, Alice (nee Grayson). Their mother, Patricia died when the youngest child, Vic, was about 2 years old.
Left to right: front is Vic; centre is Mary; above Vic is John; behind him is Margaret; Alice is in the centre and Joan on the right.
Left to right: Vic, John, Joan, Margaret, Mary
The photo is dated 1958 in Vancouver. Their father and Alice (Rev and Mrs VH Sansum) lived in Point Grey near Macdonald Avenue (?3600 block?).
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
In her message to me she reminded me about the time my mother was buried in the Mt Ida cemetery in August 2003. We were all gathered around the edge of the family plot preparing for the lowering of the casket when we became aware of movement in the trees opposite the gravesite. There, a short distance away, was a young black bear loping along in the woods, presumably doing what bears do, not paying any particular attention to us, but none-the-less gave us a bit of a start! Even with her death, like in life, there was plenty of drama!
Actually, that was the last of a string of events that occurred on that visit when I flew from Glasgow to Calgary and then travelled on to Salmon Arm. John Scott put me on the Greyhound bus for the trip over the Rockies; it's about a 6 hour ride. The smoke from the forest fires started to get really thick coming into Lake Louise. However the bus driver decided to chance it and we carried on. (I recall he was a tall, handsome native Indian with long braids and a fine high cheek-boned countenance.)
After an overnight stay in Salmon Arm we drove to Kelowna to the Kelowna General Hospital to be with my mother who was in intensive care (having had a stroke). Smoke and ash from local forest fires from Armstrong all the way to Kelowna was everywhere. We stayed in the intensive care unit all afternoon. In the early evening she passed away. By the time we left the hospital to head back to Salmon Arm (2 hours' drive) it was dark. Forest fire ash covered the cars in the hospital car park. Driving north we could see the flames leaping from tree to tree on the hill tops to our right.
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