Avis de décès de Sylvia Smith - Nécrologie - MesAieux.com

SMITH, Sylvia Alberta August 21, 1914 - December 29, 2007 Sylvia Alberta Smith died peacefully in Edmonton on Dec 29, 2007. A graveside service was held in Rimbey, Alberta on January 4th. A Memorial Service will be held on February 15 at 7:30 p.m. at McDougall United Church at 101 Street and Macdonald Drive. Donations may be made to the Nursing Chair of Public Health at the University of Alberta (Phone 492-5804) or the McDougall United Church Building Fund. Sylvia was the only daughter and youngest of four children of Daisy Dean (Bland) and John Reynolds. She was born in Seven Persons, AB where her father farmed and owned a general store. The family had moved to Medicine Hat at the time of the 1918 flu epidemic. Sylvia often recalled that when the family was ill, a man with a horse and wagon patrolled the streets of Medicine Hat each day, knocking on each door and calling out "Is anyone dead in there?" The family survived but their fortunes declined. When Sylvia was 12, they went to California to look for work. They returned to Granum, Alberta where Sylvia attended high school and played the piano in a dance band with her brothers. After attending the Garbutt Business College in Calgary she was unable to find work and went with her parents when they homesteaded near High Prairie. Later, she worked in investment and legal offices in Medicine Hat and Calgary. She met Percy Leonard Smith at a dance and they were married in Calgary on April 7, 1939. Their first home was in Rimbey where Percy worked for the Bank of Montreal. They lost infant twin daughters in 1943. After moves to Vegreville and Viking, Sylvia and Percy settled in High Prairie. She supported him in his role as the first permanent Secretary of the Town of High Prairie and Manager of the first full service Treasury Branch. For many years she kept the books for the High Prairie United Church Memorial Fund and contributed "made from scratch" angel food cakes and fudge to teas and bake sales. She supported her parents as they aged, and hosted many family dinners and card games. She and Percy enjoyed gardening, golf, and traveling in their motor home. After Percy died in 1990, Sylvia continued to live in their home, planting a variety of roses and other flowers. Special friends were given roots of her prized perennials. She walked downtown and back every day. She entertained old and newer friends for meals and cards, and especially enjoying the companionship of the Lilburn family. She rented tents and hosted garden parties for friends and family to celebrate her 80th and 85th birthdays. When she was 87 Sylvia chose to move to Edmonton where she lived in a succession of assisted living facilities. In each, she pointed out issues of safety, and service quality that she believed needed to be addressed. On one occasion, her personal intervention saved the life of a fellow resident who had choked. She formed a close friendship with Peggy Edwards, a retired public health nurse and her loving family. Sylvia and Peggy commiserated about the shortcomings in seniors' accommodation and the health care system. In 2005, after the Auditor General's report on issues in long term care in Alberta, a hastily formed MLA Task Force heard these same concerns from citizens and professional organizations across the province. In the following years, during episodes of acute illness, Sylvia contracted hospital acquired infection (MRSA) which required that she be isolated during her treatment in two different Edmonton hospitals. This experience caused her great mental anguish, but when she was discharged from hospital with the infection still present, she worried about the possibility of transmitting it to fellow residents in her assisted living facility and refused to leave her room for meals or social activities. During this time, she was especially grateful for the care and kindness of Personal Care Aide Jennifer Keim, family friend Christine Lochhead, and the Engelmann family. In 2005, Sylvia became a resident of the Shepherd's Care Nursing Home at Kensington Village, where MRSA was cured once and for all through the expert care of Registered Nurses, LPNs, and Personal Care Attendants. Although often unhappy with her immediate circumstances, Sylvia appreciated the quality of care she was receiving. On her 93rd birthday, she donated a piano to the extended care unit which had become her home. She enjoyed listening to it being played, insisting on "peppy" music whenever the tempo slowed. As a young girl, Sylvia was influenced by the political culture of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. Family and friends from all stages of her life will remember her rants on a variety of political issues. She remained faithful to the Pledge through out her life, and believed that elected officials should serve the people, keep their promises, be accountable for their spending, and stay sober. Sylvia sent letters to MLAs and MPs and kept their replies until the time of her death. Among these, was a letter from the Provincial Treasurer of Alberta, assuring her that the Treasury Branches would never be privatized. She loved the wild land in the Peace River country and especially along Lesser Slave Lake. Before it became fashionable, she was concerned about the environment, accurately predicting that when a hazardous waste management facility was built at the top of the Swan Hills, there would be downstream environmental damage and public costs. Sylvia encouraged her daughter to run for the Alberta Liberal Party in the 2004 provincial election, and greatly enjoyed celebrating their near victory. Sylvia is survived by her daughter, Donna Lynn; son, Albert Haskell; nieces Alice Walker, and Aleta (Reg) Swan; nephews Herbert (Kilty) Reynolds, Norman (Jeanne) Reynolds and neice Mary (David) Brochu. She was Grandmother to Janet (Laurence) Leduc, Ramona (Greg) Bavington, and Ron Haskell. She was fondly known as "GG" to great-grandchildren Ryan and Jessica Leduc, and Matthew and Sarah Grace Bavington. She will be remembered for her devotion to her family, her excellent cooking, her love of flowers and wilderness, and her political activism.