Shirley Jean Wonnacott

Shirley Jean Wonnacott

(nee Anderson)

It is with great sadness we announce the passing of Shirley Jean Wonnacott. Mom went to be with her Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ on December 14, 2024.

She is survived by: children George (Destiny), Bill, Tim (Ursula), Bob, Alice (Glenn) and Lance (Natalia), grandchildren Amber, Barb (Steve), Tim (Ashley), Vikki (Mike), Jenny (Guillaume), Lydia (Matt), Lana (Nico), Adam (Emma), Jonah, Jessina (Eric), Samantha, Madison (Michael), Shelby (Paul) and great-grandchildren, Ivory, Kyana, Aurelia, Eli, Julia, Emma and Darcy.  She is also survived by her brother William Anderson and sister-in-law Martha Goerzen and numerous nieces and nephews. Also left to cherish her memory is childhood friend Gail Beverage.

She was predeceased by her husband Dick Wonnacott, parents Alice and William Anderson, brothers Arnold and Raymond, sisters, Ruth, Verna, Doris and Hazel, brothers-in-law, Pete, Harry, Don, Leo, Archie, Paul, Alex, Frank, and sisters-in-law, Lorena, Ileen, Elsie, Ethel, Vivian, and grandson George. 

Mom was born on June 22, 1936 in Polson, MB. She went to school in Stead and Grand Marais, where she loved to play baseball and was a great pitcher.  Many times she came outside to pitch to us kids or pick up a bat and hit the ball out to us.  She had a knack for hitting the ball exactly where she wanted it go easily.

She started working at the age of 16 at the Grand Beach Hotel, cleaning rooms alongside her sister Ruth where they worked hard and had a bit of tomfoolery along the way. At the age of 20 she went to work at George’s Fish N’ Chips, where she met the love of her life George (Dick). They were married on March 15, 1958 and lived first in Armstrong, ON, then Gretna, MB until settling down in Grand Marais, MB where they raised their six children. They celebrated 50 years of marriage on March 15, 2008.

Mom was the Winnipeg Free Press agent in the Grand Marais area from the mid 70’s to 1981. Dad also worked for the Winnipeg Free Press at the same time travelling in the eastern part of MB and into Ontario to sign kids up to sell newspapers. During their time with the Free Press they travelled to Hawaii three times, twice as chaperones for Free Press kids and once with their three youngest children and moms sister Doris. They moved the family to Kenora, ON for one year during dad’s time with the Free Press in the mid 70’s.

The summer of 1981, she and dad ran the Hilltop Restaurant in Grand Marais. In 1983/84 they operated the original Blueberry Patch Restaurant on Grand Beach Road and then from the summer of 1985 they moved the restaurant across the street to the old Hilltop location and operated to 1997 when they both retired.  Mom was an excellent cook and baker. People to this day still mention her pies and roast beef sandwiches when talking about the old restaurant. Everything was homemade in those days.

I’m not sure how this started but cousin Wayne would drop off fresh Pickeral to his Auntie Shirley and mom would very shortly thereafter send over some butter tarts!  I’m sure they both got a good deal.

Mom loved watching hockey and Toronto was her favorite team and one time just after the Jets became a team her brother Billy took her to a game. When Toronto scored she cheered much to Uncle Billy’s dismay. He said what are you doing? We’re supposed to be going for the Jets!! To which she replied I don’t know any of them and my team is Toronto!  She did eventually warm up to the Jets with Teemu Selanne and Dustin Byfuglien becoming her favorite players.

Mom was 40 when she obtained her driver’s licence. One time, mad that she had to drive some family members to the city for WWE Wrestling at the arena she proceeded to drive fast up the narrow dike to the highway to get them there with the back end of the car bouncing from side to side.

She loved to play games and Scrabble, Pit, Phase 10, Bocci ball and Crokinole were some of her favorites. Many times her and her brother Billy would play several games of Crokinole when he and his wife Ileen and their children Brent, Kathy and David came over for a visit. The respite worker had a tough time beating her at Chinese Checkers four years ago. For every game Joy won mom won five!

In the early days mom would have water gun fights with the kids in the yard. She enjoyed having fun with the kids.

She loved being outside and would cut grass and shovel snow. One of her things was to make a skating rink in the backyard for all of us to skate on and play hockey.  The biggest game was on Boxing Day. In her 70’s she got the idea to make a slide in the backyard and she would shovel snow into a pile and then walk up the pile to push higher and higher. She built this slide that was close to ten feet high and the last time she did this she was 76 years old. She was always busy and moving around.

Like most people back in the day, we didn’t have running water and instead had a well alongside the house whereby she would pump water to fill the wringer washer in the house, wash all our clothes and then hang them outside year round. I remember as a child coming home from school and the house was always spic and span clean and there was always cake or something to snack on and she was always ready for company.  

When Lance was being born, she told George, Bill and Tim they needed to learn how to bake because they would be staying on their own in our grandmothers little cabin beside her home. But when the time came granny of course wouldn’t allow it. So when mom got back home with Lance they said “you lied, we didn’t get to stay there” and “I’m never baking again”.

Berry picking was another thing she liked to do and then make jams and jellies.  Saturday mornings was the time to bake cakes in case anyone came for a visit. And usually there was some family member popping by because her siblings, nieces, nephews, cousins lived nearby.

She and dad did not drink and alcohol was not allowed in the house.  No matter what was happening in the world around us kids, grandkids and great-grandkids, mama/grandma’s house was a safe place to go. No one was scared of mom or dad because mom just had to give the “look” if we were acting up and you put your head down and behaved in case we poke the bear too much and maybe get a well-deserved smack!

Hank Williams was her favorite singer and when he died, all of the girls including mom were sobbing.

In her later years when mom was ironing she enjoyed listening to gospel music.

She loved watching her soap operas back in the day and Another World was her favorite. Her sister Hazel would come over and they would discuss the soaps as though they were real and cry over deaths on the show. One of those times they were having a discussion and mentioned Iris dying on the show. My brother Bob heard the name Iris and thought they were discussing our cousin from across the street so he asked what happened to her, which they both looked at him and mom was mad and said we’re not talking about her!

One day as mom and her daughter Alice were looking through some mementos mom pulled out a photograph of a cowboy looking dude out of an envelope and started laughing. Alice asked why she was laughing and she said the picture was of the Willowbrook Cowboy, someone that was on the radio as a child.  She and her friends liked him so much that she ordered his picture in the mail and told her friends she was going to have his picture. Except when the photo came she thought he was to ugly so she didn’t show anyone and never spoke of it again.  But she still had the photo all those years later tucked away as a memento.

She was diagnosed with Lymphoma three times with the first being in 2003 with stage 4 cancer. Through treatment and prayers she was cancer free from Lymphoma for over ten years prior to her death. She adamantly believed it was the prayers of those at the Wayside church and family/friends that saved her. She also had a bout with skin cancer in her 70’s which was successfully treated.

In her mid-70’s she was diagnosed with dementia and a slow decline of cognitive ability began. In 2013 she had a stroke and in May 2018 she had a heart attack, which made the dementia worsen. She was not a candidate for surgery because of the dementia and at the time we were given two options, try to see if a surgeon would operate to which she probably wouldn’t survive or go home with medications and live life the best she could. When her son George and daughter Alice told her the options, she said she wanted to go home. We were told that she might survive two months, two years, maybe five but she lived 6.5 years after that heart attack for which we are grateful for the time we did have with her.  Although in recent years she did not know the name of most of her family, she still loved to be with people and would offer a smile and a “hello” to all who talked to her when they came to the house she lived in until the day of her death.

She always remained friendly and cheerful and had a mischievous playful side to her. In recent years when her dementia was worsening she would give you a poke or grab you from behind and then turn around like she hadn’t done anything. 

Another time her mischievous nature got in her was when her daughter Alice was about 12. Mom poured a bit of water on the floor and sat down legs apart and got Alice to do the same thing with her legs over moms. Mom gave her a rag and she also had one and she said on the count of three we’re going to see who can wipe up the water first. So, they were ready and Alice thought she was ready and going to win and mom went one, two and at three she pulled Alice’s legs putting her butt right in the water!

Both mom and dad were devout Christians and members of the Wayside Gospel Chapel, dad until his illness prevented him from attending around 2007 and mom until 2018 when she had her heart attack. She participated wholeheartedly helping out where needed and was the first one there to get the coffee on for years and baked cakes for events at the church. She called the church members and those buried in Balsam Bay Cemetery, “her people”. She and dad made sure while we were growing up to take us to church with them and sent us to Sunday School and hobby group.

There are so many stories about mom and for all of us there are certain memories that are all our own. It’s hard to put into words just how kind and generous she was with her family and friends. How happy she was to see them when they stopped by for a visit. In the last few years when her memory was gone and she no longer remembered who we were she would ask our name and then forget again right away or say she couldn’t remember, but that was okay because we knew her and that’s all that mattered at that point. We all remembered her.

The family would like to thank Dr. Wood for her care the last few years.  I would like to thank the staff at Selkirk Hospital for their compassion to our family after mama passed away, allowing us the time we needed to be with her. The family would also like to extend a special thanks to the homecare/respite workers who came to the house and provided care since her heart attack in 2018.

A funeral service will be held at Wayside Gospel Chapel, Grand Marais, MB  on Saturday, December 21st at 1:00 pm. Dave Jonker officiating.

Burial will take place after at Balsam Bay Cemetery. Pallbearers will be her nephews Don Rudolph, Wayne Anderson, Cory Anderson, Brent Anderson and David Anderson, and great nephew Matthew Linklater.  Light lunch to follow at Wayside Gospel Chapel.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation or a charity of your choice.

Gilbart Funeral Home, Selkirk in care of arrangements.

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