Obituary for Alma Mae Livingston (Mansfield)
Obituary: Alma Mae Livingston
After a 12-year sojourn with Alzheimer’s and dementia, Alma drew her final breath on Dec. 11, 2021, in her 93rd year. Survived by her husband of 71 years, Gordon Livingston of Markdale, and her eight children: Bruce (Ruth); Larry; Linda Vautour (Bob); Bev (Robin); Judy Jurchuk; Patti Eagle (Mark); Lori-Ann (Mark Breathwaite) and Lois Gallagher (Doug). Grandmother to 18, and great-grandmother to 14. Predeceased by her brother, Wilfred Mansfield; daughter-in-law, Norma, and her great-grandson, Colby.
Known as Alma to some and Mae to others, she was born near Tillsonburg, Ont., on Nov. 8, 1929, the granddaughter of a British Home Child. She spent her formative years first in the Great Depression and next in World War II. Both these significant historical events made an indelible mark on the woman she became – someone who saved everything, broken or not; someone who learned to do, because you never knew when the bottom would fall out of your world, and someone who knew what was expected. She was resilient and strong, and strong-willed.
She and Gordon got married in the little white church in Mount Elgin on June 24, 1950, and moved to a farm Gordon had purchased in 1948 with his brother. Mom had plenty of opportunity to build resilience in a log cabin with no running water and no electricity, located on the West Back Line northwest of Markdale. Starting with Bruce in 1951, the first four children were born and raised on that farm, which remains in the family. By 1959, Gordon and Alma purchased a farm 2.5 miles south of Markdale, where the remaining four children were born, lastly Lois in 1971, when Mom was almost 43.
With 20 years between the oldest and youngest kids, there were enough hands to keep a farm of dairy cattle, pigs, chickens and Angora goats going until the early 1990s. Along with all her work in the house and the garden and with the kids, Mom’s job in the barn was to separate the cream using the motorized cream separator, feeding the calves and pigs with the skim milk. And then she got to wash the hundreds of discs, spouts and separator parts every single night. For decades.
Mom’s extensive gardens and apple orchard provided lots of opportunities for experimentation, canning and plain old hard work – for her and for the kids. She loved her flowers, especially her peonies and irises, and enjoyed designing the gardens around the house, garage and large lawns. Occasionally, she liked to write, entering contests in farming magazines, and often coming in as honorable mention.
In 1987, she decided to finish her high school diploma – she was two courses short – and attended Grey Highlands Secondary School to complete the diploma. She graduated with her classmates, her daughter and a lot of teenagers in 1988. Once the animals were gone from the farm, and she and Gordon had retired, they spent many years travelling to far-off places: Australia and New Zealand, Greece, Turkey, Mexico, Hawaii, the UK, and all across Canada and the US.
Mom was an active member of the Vandeleur Women’s Institute, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, Markdale Church of the Nazarene, and also led various 4H courses. She entered vegetables and baking in the fall fair, put boxes of sweets together for elderly neighbours at Christmastime, taught Sunday School, hosted progressive dinners and annually delivered lilacs to long-time neighbours.
Over the past dozen years, she succumbed to dementia, and for the last eight lived at Grey Gables, in the care of staff who treated her – and Gordon, when he visited each week – as their own kin. Even through the pandemic, the staff cared deeply for their residents, at great cost and for little applause.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to the staff fund at Grey Gables LTC Staff Fund, or to the Alzheimers Society of Grey-Bruce, to further research into this disease of aging.
The family will receive friends at Fawcett Funeral Cremation Reception on Sunday, December 19, 2021 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Funeral Service will be held from the chapel on Monday, December 20, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. For COVID-19 Protocols and requirements please see below. Condolences, donations and tributes available at www.fawcettfuneralhome.ca 888-924-2810
RSVP required for both visitation and the funeral service. COVID-19 safety measures such as masks and social distancing are in place. Please be prepared to provide proof of vaccination.
Livestream available at https://player.castr.com/live_314ee8f00b3511ec9f6c6d00db0f672f
After a 12-year sojourn with Alzheimer’s and dementia, Alma drew her final breath on Dec. 11, 2021, in her 93rd year. Survived by her husband of 71 years, Gordon Livingston of Markdale, and her eight children: Bruce (Ruth); Larry; Linda Vautour (Bob); Bev (Robin); Judy Jurchuk; Patti Eagle (Mark); Lori-Ann (Mark Breathwaite) and Lois Gallagher (Doug). Grandmother to 18, and great-grandmother to 14. Predeceased by her brother, Wilfred Mansfield; daughter-in-law, Norma, and her great-grandson, Colby.
Known as Alma to some and Mae to others, she was born near Tillsonburg, Ont., on Nov. 8, 1929, the granddaughter of a British Home Child. She spent her formative years first in the Great Depression and next in World War II. Both these significant historical events made an indelible mark on the woman she became – someone who saved everything, broken or not; someone who learned to do, because you never knew when the bottom would fall out of your world, and someone who knew what was expected. She was resilient and strong, and strong-willed.
She and Gordon got married in the little white church in Mount Elgin on June 24, 1950, and moved to a farm Gordon had purchased in 1948 with his brother. Mom had plenty of opportunity to build resilience in a log cabin with no running water and no electricity, located on the West Back Line northwest of Markdale. Starting with Bruce in 1951, the first four children were born and raised on that farm, which remains in the family. By 1959, Gordon and Alma purchased a farm 2.5 miles south of Markdale, where the remaining four children were born, lastly Lois in 1971, when Mom was almost 43.
With 20 years between the oldest and youngest kids, there were enough hands to keep a farm of dairy cattle, pigs, chickens and Angora goats going until the early 1990s. Along with all her work in the house and the garden and with the kids, Mom’s job in the barn was to separate the cream using the motorized cream separator, feeding the calves and pigs with the skim milk. And then she got to wash the hundreds of discs, spouts and separator parts every single night. For decades.
Mom’s extensive gardens and apple orchard provided lots of opportunities for experimentation, canning and plain old hard work – for her and for the kids. She loved her flowers, especially her peonies and irises, and enjoyed designing the gardens around the house, garage and large lawns. Occasionally, she liked to write, entering contests in farming magazines, and often coming in as honorable mention.
In 1987, she decided to finish her high school diploma – she was two courses short – and attended Grey Highlands Secondary School to complete the diploma. She graduated with her classmates, her daughter and a lot of teenagers in 1988. Once the animals were gone from the farm, and she and Gordon had retired, they spent many years travelling to far-off places: Australia and New Zealand, Greece, Turkey, Mexico, Hawaii, the UK, and all across Canada and the US.
Mom was an active member of the Vandeleur Women’s Institute, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, Markdale Church of the Nazarene, and also led various 4H courses. She entered vegetables and baking in the fall fair, put boxes of sweets together for elderly neighbours at Christmastime, taught Sunday School, hosted progressive dinners and annually delivered lilacs to long-time neighbours.
Over the past dozen years, she succumbed to dementia, and for the last eight lived at Grey Gables, in the care of staff who treated her – and Gordon, when he visited each week – as their own kin. Even through the pandemic, the staff cared deeply for their residents, at great cost and for little applause.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to the staff fund at Grey Gables LTC Staff Fund, or to the Alzheimers Society of Grey-Bruce, to further research into this disease of aging.
The family will receive friends at Fawcett Funeral Cremation Reception on Sunday, December 19, 2021 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Funeral Service will be held from the chapel on Monday, December 20, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. For COVID-19 Protocols and requirements please see below. Condolences, donations and tributes available at www.fawcettfuneralhome.ca 888-924-2810
RSVP required for both visitation and the funeral service. COVID-19 safety measures such as masks and social distancing are in place. Please be prepared to provide proof of vaccination.
Livestream available at https://player.castr.com/live_314ee8f00b3511ec9f6c6d00db0f672f