Date de Décès: 2007-09-19
Date de Parution: 2007-09-25
Source: Calgary Herald, AB
GILCHRIST-DOBSON, Norma Jean Our mother, Norma Jean Gilchrist-Dobson, 79, of Halifax, passed away Wednesday, September 19, 2007 in the Valley Regional Hospital, Kentville, Nova Scotia. We remember her as an extraordinary grandmother, lining up to get multiple copies of the latest Harry Potter for her grandchildren, and making her famous Hello Dolly Squares for every visit. Mom was born on the Alberta prairies in 1928 and educated in a one-room school, taught by her father. She moved on to a nursing career in Calgary and Vancouver before settling in Riverview, New Brunswick as a newlywed in 1951. She would say her biggest achievement was her four children. We were the lucky recipients of her selfless devotion, her unwavering support and interest in all we did. However, we remember with pride her many other achievements, her fifteen-year involvement in the Guiding movement, her service on the boards of the Moncton Regional Library and School of Nursing, her post-children academic record, beginning with an Honours BA in English from Mount Allison and subsequent Masters degrees in Library Service and Theology, the latter obtained while she was working full-time as a librarian at the Atlantic School of Theology. Her belief in and support of the United Church began in Castor, Alberta, continued in Riverview and then for the past twenty years at St. Andrews United in Halifax. Her only vice was her over-fondness of acquiring books for herself - and her grandchildren - preferably hardcover and signed by the author at a reading, and purchased from Frog Hollow or Woozles. She was predeceased by her parents, Lela (Greenwalt) and Don Gilchrist; her brother, Don; her beloved Siamese cats, Ping and Pong. She will be missed by her sister, Gayle, Calgary, and brother, Garry (Elly), Victoria, British Columbia; her children, Debby Dobson (Ed Hall), Upper Dyke, Becky Dobson (Jeffrey Smith), Halifax, Melanie Dobson (Graeme Rocker), Halifax, Kim Dobson (Ramona Kraemer), Georgetown, Ontario; nine grandchildren, Karen, Esther, Alex, Christopher, Sarah, Emily, Adam, Patrick and Zac; great-grandson, Nahze; nieces, Laura, Jacqueline and Nicole and the many others she "mothered" over the years but especially John Sutcliffe and Evelyn Sutton and her honourary grandchildren, James and Ellen MacDonald. Cremation has taken place under the direction of the White Family Funeral Home, Kentville and there will be no Visitation. The Funeral Service will be held at 1:00 p.m. Monday, October 1, 2007 in St. Andrews United Church, Halifax, with a reception to follow in the church hall. Donations in memory may be made to the charity of your choice. On-line condolences may be directed to one of the family or www.whitefamilyfuneralhome.com . Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to the WHITE FAMILY FUNERAL HOME, Kentville, ON. Published in the Calgary Herald on 9/25/2007