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On February 12 / 2010 my Mother's Spirit was set free. We will miss her greatly, she was a good Mother, and gave much love to us all. She lives in our hearts now and sometimes when I pass a mirror a little smile come over me as I see her face in mine.
Her life was dedicated to helping others and she received the Helen Keller Award and the Paul Harris Award for her community work. The little video tells the story. God Bless you Irene.
For a bigger video click here , save to disc and play in Adobe Media Player
The Eulogy was given by our dear family friend Margaret Logon, and although the words are beautiful, her delivery made it so very special. Thank you Margaret you made us laugh and cry.
Hello
for those who don't know me, I am Margaret Logan formerly Vinden and the reason Imention this is that the
Pearce and Vinden family have a long history and I am here today tospeak of the
Rene I knew as a family friend and not of her many accomplishments of whichwere,
as you know many.My
Mother Ida, who is here today, grew up in the same town as Rene in England, and evendated Rene's older
brother Harry. Then by chance, in 1957 Rene went with Roger intoWoolworths
in Farnham England and spoke to my Mother's sister Ann who worked behind thebi
scuit counter. Roger, was full of going to Canada and as we had recently gone to Canada Anngave
Rene our phone number. Rene called my Mother and there began a long relationship withthe two families
.It
seems to me, that our times with the "Pearces" began with Sundays spent at Heart LakeConservation area
where it seemed to me we went rain or shine, the English being oblivious tobad weather
. In the winters we spent alternate Sundays at each other's homes for thetraditional
Sunday Lunch and playing monopoly. These were all good times but, time moved onand
we as children got married and Jennifer and I had our fi rst child ren Penny and Derek in thesame
year. Rene was terribly proud of her children, Jennifer for her work in the school andRoger
for his artwork which she displayed with great pride (and which we had to admirewhether we
wanted to or not).Rene
and I shared a common love of the Royal Family and England and I remember many goodevenings spent
at Rene's house in Streetsville where she proudly displayed her Royalmemorabilia
(her tins) and her books amongst other things. We always had our before dinnerdrink of sherry and she would
regale us with the latest Royal gossip or stories of England, wealway
s had a good laugh, and I was so envious that she actually went to Buckingham Palace andmet
the Queen. (I am wearing Royal Purple today in her honour). She was kind and generousand when
my daughter Carole needed a summer job she gave her one at Cheshire House whereRene
was in her element. Her good humour and her ability to see the funny side of thingss
tood her in good stead here.Later
my Mother and her went on what my brothers and I called (after seeing the itinerary)their death
march through Europe to see the Passion Play amongst other sights, she was evenrobbed of her pur
se on the streets but, it didn't seem to make any difference they carried onand had
a great time. They also took a trip to England and met up with Rene's brother Harrywho
was a Chelsea Pensioner and had dinner with him (nothing happened with him and myMother
).Later years,
Rene, Jennifer and my Mother took to having birthday dinners together as ourbirthday
s all fall at the end of March and these were all good times with much laughter.The last time I saw Rene,
she was in the Halton Hills Extendicare and, when I went in she wassitting at the
table with her eyes shut. I went up to her and she looked at me and I said "Rene,do you know who
it is" and she said "of course I do it's Margaret Vinden". When I mentionedwe
had our birthdays together, she said No More and, she was right we never did but, Rene, onour
birthdays, we will think of you and raise a toast to you, as you were much loved by us and,w
e will miss you. God Bless.
