Jeni Nash

Mom was born in 1936 in Zhoda, Manitoba, where she spent the first 5 years of her life surrounded by extended family, speaking only Ukrainian and one summer avoiding a particularly terrifying goose. She started school in Labroquerie where she was suddenly immersed in French, and finally learned English when she moved with her parents to Vancouver.

She left home with a teaching certificate and a job in Fort St. John, it was there that she met her future husband Julian. After their wedding in 1958, they set up house in a tiny mobile home which they would haul around the interior of British Columbia on the back of a flatbed truck. In 1962 they returned to Dad’s hometown of Slave Lake, where, as he put it “We’ll plant potatoes in the summer and I’ll shoot a moose in the winter, so at least we won’t starve”.

The first winter was spent in that tiny trailer with a toddler, a baby and one big fluffy cat. They went on to build a log cabin that housed us for three more years. Then the house that she lived in until her death.

In addition to potato planting and moose hunting they established a Sand and Gravel Business that is still operating, now owned by their son Edward Nash. Dad operated and fixed equipment and Mom was a one-woman office for many years, in addition to managing the rental of 3 log cabins, and raising two perfect children.

Slave Lake in the early 60’s was a very small hamlet, with miles of gravel road between it and the nearest city. But the city girl dove right in to small town living, serving on many volunteer boards such as the Chamber of Commerce, the advisory board for the Lesser Slave River Weir and the home and school association. She and Dad were long term members of the Ski club, which meant that no visit home was complete without helping out at a fundraising bingo.

She was an ardent fan of international travel, Dad once commented that if she went first he would scatter her ashes at the Edmonton Airport. Over the course of over 30 years they travelled all over the globe, exploring from Europe, to India, to Fiji, to countries that don’t even exist any more. They also enjoyed camping and fishing closer to home. For about 15 years both Mom and Dad had their pilot’s licences and a small float plane that they used to explore various lakes in the north of the province.

Mom was fiercely independent, and after Dad’s death, continued to maintain a large garden, house and yard, insisting on cutting the grass and shoveling the snow, driving to town daily for her newspaper and groceries, and to Edmonton on appointments or errands. Her last solo drive to Vancouver Island was in September.

How to summarize in words her qualities of warmth, compassion, intelligence, resilience, and quiet strength? She trained as a teacher, but taught herself to keep books. She learned to cook in a city where any ingredient was available, but taught her self how to substitute moose meat for just about anything and produce amazing meals. She loved to read, but moved to a town without bookstores or a library, so signed us up for a distance library lending service. Her perfect children might occasionally give her a reason to raise her voice, but if the phone rang she could switch to professional mode in the time it took to raise the receiver. She took up bicycling in her retirement, and celebrated her 65 birthday by cycling the Oregon trail with two good friends and Dad driving the support vehicle.

Mom will be missed by her Children, Edward (Bonnie) Nash, and Janine (John) Schueller; Grandchildren: Erin (Tyler) Schueller, Eric Schueller, Izak (Andrea) Nash, and Lexi (Klayton) Pipke. She was predeceased by her husband of 62 years, Julian.

A Celebration of Life will be held at a yet to be decided date in the summer.