Heather Wood Heather Wood, late of Estevan and formerly of North Portal, passed away on Thursday, November 8, 2012 at St. Joseph's Long Term Care in Estevan Sask. She is survived by her daughter, Susan (Garth) Shepherd of Alameda, Sask.; two granddaughters, Sherry (Warren) Sproule of Regina Sask., their daughters, Alanna (Adam) Schemenauer of Regina and Allison Sproule (Jordan Ross) of Vancouver, B.C. and Laurie Wall (Ryan Moore) of Regina and her sons, Jake Wall and Max Wall; sisters-in-law, Kay Wood of Estevan and Jean Malcolm of Woodlands, Man., as well as numerous nieces and nephews. Heather was born in Springside, Sask. to James and Susan Malcolm on Sept. 13, 1917. She was the 3rd youngest in a family of 6 boys and 2 girls. They finally settled in Lake Francis, Man. where Heather grew up and went to school. The family was very musical and they had a family band that played for schoolhouse dances and parties. Heather played the piano. In the 1930s, she met a curly haired young fellow named Roy Wood, who had moved to Lake Francis from Saskatchewan with his father and two brothers. On April 17, 1940 they were married in Winnipeg and settled down on the farm to raise cattle and milk cows. When Roy was in the hayfield, Heather milked 12 cows morning and night and pumped water by hand for a herd of feeder cattle. Their only child, Susan, was born in 1943 and in 1947, they moved back to the Wood farm at North Portal. In 1957 they moved into North Portal and remained there until they needed care and had to move to Estevan. Heather was a born homemaker. Her house was always neat and tidy, the freezer was filled with goodies and she could whip up a delicious meal at a moment's notice. She was hyper, quick-moving and full of fun. She loved to dance and was a very astute card player. They loved to play crib, whist, hoofendoofer, canasta and a variety of other card games with friends. It was always women against the men. Roy would sometimes grumble if he lost and Heather would sometimes let him win just to keep peace in the family. If you visited during garden season, you could not get away without a bunch of beets, carrots, onions or potatoes. She had the most generous loving spirit inside that small body! The kettle was always on for afternoon tea with friends and neighbours. Mum was also a human calculator. She could run down a column of figures and add them in her head faster than any mechanical device. She prided herself on her lovely handwriting and I remember her practising her signature with many swirls and loops. Mum loved her brothers and sister so much. She faithfully wrote letters to them every week and longed for the yearly visits to Manitoba or B.C. She loved her nieces and nephews as much as she loved us and we always enjoyed hearing about our cousins when she came back from a visit. Mum absolutely lived for her grandchildren ... Sherry and Laurie were her only grandchildren and there wasn't anything she wouldn't do for them. When they came to visit she would never deny them as many Fudgsicles as they wanted to eat ... or cookies she would bake. She would cuddle them on the couch with the red blanket and make them peanut butter toast with the crusts cut off ... and that was when they were 30 years old! She would drop everything and play with them ... and when the Christmas Wish Book came out from Sears, she would give Sherry and Laurie each a catalogue and tell them to mark everything they wanted and it would all be under the Christmas tree wrapped in tissue paper. This extended on to her great grandchildren. She loved taking the kids for walks on the golf course beside their house or even batting a balloon around the kitchen ... laughing and whooping and being silly. When the time came for Heather and Roy to move out of their home in North Portal, it was a very difficult transition for them. They moved into Hill View Manor where Roy passed away in 2007 and Heather went to live at St. Joseph's Long Term Care in 2006 where she passed away. Both of these facilities were excellent and they received great care for which we are extremely grateful. If we have learned anything from Mum it would be: * Laugh lots and be silly. * Always think of others first. * Treat your spouse well. Bring him a foot stool if he needs it and feed him in front of the TV if he's watching sports. We saw this, but it doesn't mean we necessarily practise it. * If there is work to be done, do it first and not last. * Keep your house tidy. * Read books in your spare time. * Always remember the importance of family and be a good friend. All of us have a little bit of her light in us now. A memorial service was held on Saturday, November 17,2012 at 10:30 a.m. in the chapel of Hall Funeral Services, Estevan, Sask. Those so wishing may make donations to the St.Joseph's Hospital Foundation, Box 5000 - 203, 1176 Nicholson Road, Estevan, SK in Heather's memory. Thank You We would like to take this opportunity to say thank you for the kind words of sympathy, cards, flowers, food, phone calls and many hugs since the passing of our beloved Mum, Grandmother and Great Grandmother, Heather Wood. It helps so much to know that people care about what you are going through. Thanks also to Hall Funeral Services for your thoughtfulness and compassion, to Doug Third, whose beautiful service touched our hearts, and to St. Joseph's Long Term Care, who took such good care of Mum. To our good friends (you know who you are) ... thanks is such a small word for your constant love and support ... you make every day a happy one for us. We are so blessed to have had Heather for 95 years ... a better Mother and friend could not have been found anywhere. We are comforted knowing she will be "having tea" with her North Portal friends once again in God's loving care. - Sincerely, Garth and Susan Shepherd; Sherry and Warren Sproule and Family; Laurie Wall and Ryan Moore and Boys.
