Obituaries

ANNE MCKENZIE LEIPER ALLAN GAVIN

Anne McKenzie Leiper Allan Gavin, loving mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, passed away at the age of 90 on December 5, 2022.

Proudly Scottish, she was born in Aberdeen, Scotland on February 22, 1932, and was taken out of school by her father at age 14 so that she could work in his bicycle shop. It was also in her teens that she first met Hamish Crilley Reid Gavin, whom she married in 1955. The couple immigrated to Canada, living in Nelson, Kamloops, and Smithers, BC, then in Regina, finally in 1968 settling in Winnipeg, Manitoba. After raising a daughter and two sons, she went back to school and in May 1992, earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Literature at the University of Winnipeg.

Anne loved books and worked as a school librarian at St. John’s -Ravenscourt and later at the Van Wallegham School. Anne played the piano and is remembered by her granddaughters as an excellent baker. Her children fondly remember going on family camping trips, attending concerts, and celebrating Robbie Burns Day.

Anne is survived by her three children (Rhona Margaret Cottrell, Graham John Allan Gavin, and Hamish Grant Leiper Gavin). She has three surviving siblings (Richard Allan, Ian Allan, and Margaret Allan) and was predeceased by her brothers Harry, Leonard, and Robert. She was also the grandmother of seven children (Amelia, Patricia, Naomi, Rhea, Megan, Mia, and Graham Jr.) plus nine great-grandchildren.

A viewing will be held at Wojcik’s Funeral Chapel, 51 Nicola Dr., Headingley, MB, at 9:30 am on Monday, December 19, 2022. The family plans a further gathering to celebrate her life in spring 2023.

When Death’s dark stream I ferry o’er,
A time that surely shall come;
In Heaven itself I’ll ask no more
Than just a Highland welcome.
–Robert Burns