Rita Isabel Soulier (Boyle)
May 4, 1923- July 26, 2014
Rita was born on a farm near Kinistino to Jim and Mary Boyle. She was the fifth of nine children in an Irish Catholic family.
Following graduation from Sion Academy in Prince Albert she took secretarial training in Saskatoon. She finished in 1944 so Rita took her secretarial training south to work with the RAF’s British Mission in North America, first in Washington, DC then Nassau, Bahamas.
When the war ended, Rita returned to Kinistino where she married Alfred Soulier and set about raising a family of seven children. She was a wonderful, caring mother with a great love of children, an amazing amount of forbearance and a sense of humor that her children take credit for helping her develop.
Rita was a woman of great faith who believed strongly in Social Justice. Some of her heroes were Mother Theresa, John Paul II, Tommy Douglas and her dad, Jim Boyle, elected in 1944 as part of Saskatchewan’s first CCF government. Once her children were grown, Rita spent several years quite heavily involved in NDP politics including a stint as government representative on the Royal University Hospital Board.
Rita was also a woman of service, always ready to help out in her family or community. A major area of service was through music. She played the piano and, at church, the organ. And she sang. She sang at church services, weddings, funerals and countless community celebrations. She sang solo and in choirs.
She was predeceased by her loving dance partner (and non-singer) Alfred Soulier, her parents Jim and Mary (Fanning) Boyle, her parents-in-law Hippolyte and Marie (Bernard) Soulier, her brother Tom and wife Marie (Feehan) Boyle, her brother Bernie and wife Ethel (Fellman) Boyle, her brother Frank Boyle, her sister Margie and husband Elwood Matheson, her brother-in-law Joe Hynes, her sister-in-law Georgette Soulier, her brother-in-law Arsene and wife Winnifred (Brandon) Soulier, her brother-in-law Paul and wife Elsie (Fahlman) Soulier and her son-in-law Wes Malmgren.
She will be missed by her surviving siblings and their spouses: sister Marion and Frank Crowther, sister-in-law Veronica (Boehm) Boyle, sister Teresa Hynes, brother Gerald and wife Faye (Umpherville), sister Kathleen and Armand Jutras, also by her children: Maureen Soulier (George Anderson), Denise (Ernie) Kruppi, Sheila Soulier (Rick Kokotailo), Tony Soulier, Rosemary Malmgren, Michael (Linda Drury) Soulier, Patricia (Mick) Lux, all her grandchildren, great-grandchildren and nieces, nephews and all their children.
Mass of Christian of Burial will be held at St. Andrew’s United Church, Kinistino, SK on Friday, August 1, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. with Father Jim Kaptein as celebrant. Rite of Committal will follow at Kinistino Cemetery. Memorial contributions, in memory of Rita, may be directed to Kinistino Jubilee Lodge Healthcare Auxiliary.
Funeral arrangements were entrusted to Melfort Funeral Home Ltd. of Melfort, SK (306)-752-2714. www.melfortfuneralhome.com

• Date : 2014-07-26 06:00:00