Honouring Vi & Wilf Riches

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Vi Riches –    (October 10/16 to May 2/12)
Tribute & Memorial

Thank you all for coming today to celebrate the life of Vi Riches.  Those of you who knew her well knew that Mother loved life!  She was energetic, happy, outgoing, friendly welcoming, and very much alive!  She would want this day to be a time of celebration as we think about her life.  Let’s all stand and sing the chorus in your bulletin (I Will Enter His Gates)

Mother was such a wonderful person throughout our lives that it’s hard to know just where to begin and what to say.  We all have our special memories and she held a special place in each one of our hearts.  I’d like to share some of her growing up years that she has told me about.!

Viola Mabel Lewis was born to a wonderful couple, Mabel Stringer and Thomas Harold Lewis.  She was the second child of five, with one older brother (Walter), one younger brother (Harry), and two younger sisters (Flo & Marj).  As the eldest daughter I’m sure she bore a lot of responsibility in the family, and learned early how to care for younger ones.  Her love of, and  connection to children was an important part of who she was.   Loving came naturally, some of the care was learned.:

Once when her youngest sister Marj had hurt her leg, and Mother had to clean it up, she remembered that salt was good for killing germs, so she poured salt into the open cut!  She told me she didn’t realize it would hurt, but Auntie Marj found out it sure did!  The good thing was that it never got infected! That didn’t affect their love for each other though as Auntie Marj writes:

“Vi was not only my big sister, she was my best friend, and we loved spending time together, whether it was just walking around Curve Lake with Misty her cat, or going to the seniors prayer meeting.  We also loved travelling by bus to Toronto monthly to meet up with Flo, Harry, and sometimes Hazel and Flossie for fish and chip dinners.  One of the things we looked forward to every fall, was the Christian Retreat at Elim Lodge.  We always came home renewed by the great speakers, good food and wonderful fellowship with all our friends.  To Vi, I was always her little sister and she felt she had to look after me.  I loved her very much and I will miss her dearly.”

Mother has told us that their home was always full of fun &laughter, and friends and relatives were always welcome.  It didn’t matter how little they had, they were always willing to share.  They lived simply and ate simply but I know my Mother learned to make her wonderful apple pies from her Mother’s example!  Once her Dad walked all the way to school to bring Mother her ketchup sandwich which she had forgotten!  They didn’t have meat to put in the bread so just added ketchup.

Read More…

 

MEMORIES OF MOTHER…

Her perennial optimism;  no matter what, the glass was ‘full’
And when not smiling, she was whistling
Her endless energy, strength and agility
She was a master pie baker, the best anywhere, especially her apple pie with the
most incredibly flaky pastry
How much she loved babies and toddlers (although she often said that “after that
you can keep them”)
Her amazing patience
The special memories she had of her Dad; especially the one of him fixing them all
toast on a sunday morning, then taking everyone to the park, singing all the
way
How much she adored her “baby sister”, Marj
She daily hauled 5 gallon buckets of water from up the street, when we lived in a 2
room-waterless-apt. while they saved $$ for the Beta St. house
Her sincerely caring, gregarious nature:  she’d strike up a conversation with
anyone
How she spent most of the first day in our new Beta St. home scraping plaster out
of the tub with a razor blade (pre drywall days)
“Calling” us to dinner with Dad’s old army whistle
Her favorite colors-yellow and pink
Getting up every morning to make Dad’s breakfast before he left for work at 4 a.m
And then she would do laundry, hang it out, prepare us for school, all before
leaving for her job.
Her fondness for music boxes, especially if they played Greensleeves or Debussy
Dumping our dresser drawers out onto our bed on a sat. morning if they were
messy (we quickly learned to stay organized)
How proud she was of her new 1952 Beta St. living room;  furniture, carpet, walls
and drapes, all beautifully coordinated grays and maroon (my first exposure
to interior decorating)
Her love of all things ‘lemon’
Being mistaken for a ‘native’ during their Hawaiian trip (which tickled her)
How much she enjoyed gardening:  their Los Angeles property was lush with citrus
she’d grown from seed, flowers from cuttings, and poinsettias she teased into
shrubs; and Curve Lake bloomed with daffodils, lily of the valley and trilliums
Her egalitarian outlook, and affinity for the Indian peoples and culture
The beautiful stockings she made, that brings joy to hundreds every christmas
And how could I ever forget-her recipes;  date squares, homemade lemonade,
‘morning glory’ muffins, lemon pudding, coconut-oatmeal cookies, scotch
scones, lemon cookies….many I have and continue to make…thank you
Her absolute total, unwavering, dedication to her family
It will always be ‘Mother’s Day’ to me, I’ll carry her in my heart forever….
I miss Her and Dad so very much;  the hole in my heart will never be filled, the tears
will slow, but the sadness of their leaving will always remain
I’ll always love you both

your very grateful firstborn

 

OUR TRIBUTE TO DAD

(from Sylvia & Dale)

Dad, you often said that we would
miss you

How those words have proved you true

We lost the one and only Dad

The day when we lost you

A beautiful memory dearer than gold

Of a father whose true worth can
never be told

There’s a place in our hearts no other can fill

We miss you Dad and always will

We’ll miss you when we need a friend

Because on you we could depend

Your nature was loving, your heart
pure gold

To us who truly loved you, your
memory won’t grow old

The last time we saw you, you looked
quite well

Little did we know it would be our
last farewell

You’ve earned your place in Heaven
Dad after all that you’ve been through

We wish we could have helped you,
but there was nothing more to do

Sleeping peacefully now and out of
pain

We would not wake you up to suffer
again

There’s a bridge of happy memories
from here to Heaven above

We know we share that bridge Dad,
it’s called the Bridge of Love

There is one thing that makes us
glad

That is because God chose YOU to be
our Dad

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