Obituaries

My dear sister Joan, 7 years have past since you went away, pop joined you last year on the same day, yesterday you held mom's hand as you and dad led her home, to be a family, no longer broken any more...the day will come when I too shall come but til that day I will miss all 3 of you. With all my love Barb

Happy 57th birthday Joan my little sister, I thought of you all day today on your 57th birthday. I miss you so very much and our conversations. Love you so very much. Please give pop a big hug for me because he is now with you in heaven.

Joan thinking of you on your one year passing today and all the good times we had.

Just thinking of you today Joan...I found a poem and wanted to share it with you...I still miss youAs the days and years passI still miss youAs the pain of grief softensI still miss youAs new memories are madeI still miss youAs I smile and laughI still miss youToday and everydayI still miss you(2013 www.TheGriefToolBox.com)You are always in my thoughts my little sister and I just miss you.Love Barb

To Joan's Family. I am very sorry to hear of Joan's death. She was a very special person, support and friend during my years of advocating for changes to the mental health system in Manitoba and Canada. I only wish we had accomplished more however, maybe in the future positive change will be advanced, partly because of our contribution. Joan was a truly beautiful person and I will remember her with fondness. Sincerely, Bev Goodwin

I am thankful that Joan came into my life she was a very happy person. Joan was like a big sister to me, she was always helping me with my home work - my study buddy - she was the best. Joan was a loving and caring person, she was a good cat sitter -Velcro and Westbound loved her as did I. We were there for each other. She always talked about the bright side of life and she was full of life, a good listener and wise. Thank-you Joan for the good times

My dear sister Joan, I miss you. I was not allowed to say goodbye to you. Those people who kept me from you, know who they are and they will have to live with that for the rest of their sad lives...yes it's said everyone gets their 15 minutes of fame at one time or another...I guess this was theirs. You are my younger sister. Yes, we did have our fights...tell me what sisters didn't. But I always loved you and tried to look out for you. I remember the day you were born. They told me I had a baby sister... The one thing they can't take away was, all of our fun times. Trying to teach you how to drive and almost crashing the car into the ditch because you took your hands off the wheel, covering your eyes saying you couldn't drive and stepping on the gas peddle the croquet touraments...with the 8 man tent and no men...lol. Living together on Watt Street with our adopted brothers Fernando and Colin. The time I dumped a cold pail of water on your head when you were coming home from work and you threw my brand new bra out into 4 o'clock rush hour traffic on Watt Street as pay back and I had to go out and get it... Or the time we drove to Edmonton and played name that dead squished thing, and the many trips to see Doug and the Slugs... There are so many memories of you that I will hold dear to my heart Joan. You were blessed with many special gifts. Your talent as an artist and poet, the creativity just flowed out of your being. Your sense of humour that came through in your creative Ass Crack Waxing certificate...or Mahotma Presley psychic advisor to Elvis... You were my birthing coach even though you had no idea about babies, the auntie who was the first one to hold my son right after he was born. The one who said 'a baby, I don't know how to hold a baby' and the nurse responding ' well for christ sake don't drop him', and you didn't. You brought him over to me and said he didn't look like an Otis (for that was the name I had picked out for him) and you were right he didn't look like an Otis, so we named him Nicholas, after uncle Nick... Then 21 years later you passed away, one day before his 21st birthday, if I had only known you would be gone in such a short time...I would have told you I loved you more. But we did have a final conversation, we cleared the air and told each other we loved and forgave one another in the way that only sisters can do...and a few days after you passed, your spirit came to see me, to pass along a message 'that you were no longer broken' you were now strong, confident and free to play in the meadow with your cats... And who knows if the certain LS had not killed your spirit all those years ago maybe things would have turned out much, much differently and you would not have had to live your life broken...but hey who knew...it had all been swept ever so neatly under the carpet and no one spoke or stood up for the 2 broken sisters.... Go in peace Joan, my little sister, I will always love and miss you Love your big sister, Barb