Obituary of Marie Perkins

Marie Aileen Perkins was born in August 1932, in Eatonia, SK. She was the fourth of 5 children born to Frederick and Nora Rosher. Mom grew up and attended school in Eatonia but had many fond memories of time spent at the family farm in the Laporte area. She often talked about her teenage years spent working at the local drugstore in Eatonia where she developed her lifelong love of banana splits and ice cream sundaes! Growing up during the 1930s and 1940s on the prairies was a lesson in perseverance, frugality and hard work, qualities which she carried with her throughout her lifetime and the importance of which she stressed to her children. Mom trained at St. Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon to become a registered nurse, a career which brought her to Nipawin where she met Dad and where they began their nearly 67 year journey together. Mom loved to sing and always said that she would have loved a career in the performing arts, but she then would never have met the best man she could ever know. They lived on the family farm for nearly 45 years, where they raised their family of four. Mom continued to nurse during much of this time, both at the Nipawin hospital and then later at the Nipawin community medical clinic. She and her daughter Sharolyn operated an electrolysis business for a short while in the early 1980s. Mom loved to visit with her brother and sisters and although they didn’t get together often, those visits were always filled with laughter and reminiscences of their youth. They also liked to argue a bit! Mom had a suspected diagnosis of MS in her late thirties but no confirmation until many years later. She was thankful for not having experienced serious mobility issues until much later. While frustrated at times, she never complained and carried on her life with perseverance. She was too stubborn to ever let it get the best of her! After their own children were gone from home, Mom insisted that she and Dad should sponsor a child through an international foster parents plan. There were always letters and pictures from Africa displayed on the fridge door. She was also a volunteer with the Northeast Crisis Intervention Centre and the Oasis Centre in Nipawin as well as participating in the local MS support group. She had a very strong sense of what she considered ethical behavior and never wavered from her beliefs. Mom enjoyed singing, gardening, knitting & needlepoint and doing her word puzzles from the daily newspaper. Their dining room table was usually occupied by a picture puzzle in progress. In 1999 she and Dad moved into their new home in Nipawin which was built to accommodate some of her new mobility challenges, and they continued to live in their own home until this past May, at which time they both entered the hospital within days of each other. Marie was predeceased by her husband Irvin; parents Frederick and Nora Rosher; her sisters Carolyn Hammerlindl and Janette Lippincott; her brother Bill Rosher; parents-in-law Robert and Gladys Perkins; brothers-in-law Jim Hammerlindl, Bill Perkins, Vernon Campbell and Ed Jarvis. Marie is survived by son Tim (Liza) Perkins; daughters Leanne (Terry) Boychuk, Sharolyn Janzen (Bill McLean), and Karen Perkins; sister Margaret Chalifour; sisters-in-law Mary Ann Rosher, Jean Jarvis and Jean Perkins; brothers-in-law Harry Lippincott and Bob (Helen) Perkins; eleven grandchildren and ten great grandchildren as well as numerous nieces and nephews. Private Family Service will be held.