1924 – 2014

It is with great sadness that the family announces the death of Anne Everatt (nee Kostiuk) on February 17, 2014. She is survived by her daughters Judy (Mahoney) and Linda (Benson), and many relatives throughout Canada. Born in Wakaw, Anne was raised in a Ukrainian-speaking family and spent her early adult life teaching in small towns throughout northern Saskatchewan. While at a country dance, Anne met a young man who told her that one day he’d marry her. When the war intervened, Anne and Bob continued their correspondence; Anne, perhaps more focused on romantic gestures than practical, sent a tie clip with her birthstone to the front lines, an event that became legend in family lore. Upon Bob’s return from the war they were married and moved to Banff where they raised two daughters and Anne taught at the Banff Elementary School. Their house was a centre of social events, in large part due to Anne’s spirited hospitality. After retiring in the 1970s, Bob and Anne opted to return to Saskatchewan, first to a family farm near Smeaton, and then to Prince Albert. Anne had a deep love of nature that she expressed in watercolour and oil paintings and her art graces homes and offices across Canada. She was a gifted teacher who gave much to her students through progressive techniques involving dance, drama, and art, but who didn’t suffer fools—she was a stickler for proper grammar, correct arithmetic, and polite behaviour. While a substitute teacher after retirement, she would read aloud from reports of bear attacks when the children were disruptive. She was well-loved by colleagues and students and was perhaps one of few substitute teachers ever invited to a 10-year old boy’s birthday party. Anne was intellectually curious and deeply creative: she painted and drew; she developed slide shows with narration and music; she wrote and illustrated books for her grandchildren (one of which was subsequently published) and made Halloween costumes and specially-designed birthday cakes. She was a person others were drawn to because of her sense of humour, generosity, and uncommon mental quickness. If a person’s life may be judged by the good she did for others, Anne lived a life of superlatives. A gathering to celebrate Anne’s life will be held April 12th, 2014 at 2pm at Mont St Joseph's Home, 777 – 28th Street East in Prince Albert, SK. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.grays.ca. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Gray’s Funeral Chapel, Drew Gray, Funeral Director (306-922-4729).
 

• Date : 2014-02-17 06:00:00