Alice Dennis

It's unusual when someone that's almost 92 years old dies and everyone's reaction is shock and disbelief but that's how it was with Mom. It was a testament to her spirit and resilience that she lived such a long and eventful life. It wasn't that she hadn't had her share of health issues these past few years, just that she kept overcoming anything and everything so she could go home to the Point for the summers. This feistiness was shown early, funny enough through her love of baking. Our grandmother was neither a talented nor enthusiastic cook according to Mom so it fell to her with 9 siblings (5 brothers still at home) to help with the cooking This did lead to conflict sometimes as when she was making donuts her youngest brother Rod was eating them as fast as she could make them. She said she warned him - more than once - and when he didn't stop she buried a fork in his shoulder. Ah........she had a fighting spirit even then. But homemade donuts must have been a real treat because Mom laughed at what we call hardships today. She talked about what a thrill it was to find an orange or any fresh fruit for Christmas. Once she almost burned down the family homestead using a match to search out dried grapes someone had sent as a special treat for the holidays. Schooling was also viewed a little differently in those days. Mom was really smart and finished grade 8 by ten years old but couldn't go to high school because you would have had to pay room and board in town to attend and that just wasn't done for a girl, no matter how bright. My how things have changed. She worked around the homestead, at many resorts long since gone and for some of the wealthy who were summering in Muskoka. Then came the war years. Mom did what so many young girls did and moved to the big city and worked at Inglis - a war plant. She made parts for a Bren gun; she made a little forked piece about 4 inches long. She never had any idea what the piece was used for, she just remembered the horrible steel slivers she got when making it. After the war she worked for Ma Bell as an operator. We always kidded her because she continued to use her "operator voice" whenever she talked to someone she didn't know on the phone. The best this brought home to the Point from this job was a friend and co-worker who would, in time, marry her brother Fred. It was in 1948 that the really important stuff started for Mom. Dad and Mom married and moved permanently back to the Point. In the 50's (not saying exactly when) they had 2 beautiful and perfect kids. You must know by now who is writing this obituary........... Mom taught us and a lot of the other kids how to count by playing cribbage. She would help us then always claim she couldn't remember your cards when it was her turn to play. We remember believing her! As for increasing our vocabulary, there was the paper to read and always scrabble. Mom played scrabble to the end and more often than not beat us. She did have an advantage though because she loved crosswords. She would sit in her chair with the world's oldest crossword dictionary beside her and finish almost all of the puzzles. If the paper, for whatever reason, didn't come the crossword was what she really missed. Beth and Mom would spend far too much time finishing off Saturday and Sunday crosswords. Whether borne out of necessity or convenience, Mom loved to sew. She could make something fashionable and useful out of nothing. When Beth was in high school Mom made her a one of a kind coat out of different coloured remnants of cloth. We called it "the Joseph coat" for obvious reasons. Within the next year the department stores were selling them - just ahead of her time. Steve feels he wasn't quite as fortunate. When he needed a winter coat Mom made him one from a man's woolen overcoat. I am sure it looked good but he swears he wore it from ages 4 to 14. Even worse for him, it came with a cute (read stupid) cap with 2 snaps for doing it up. He swears there were marks on his cheek ‘til his 20's from the snaps. Growing up with Mom was sometimes embarrassing though. We had to make do with homemade bread while everyone else got "store bought". They got Mr. Christie's cookies and we had to eat homemade ginger snaps, chocolate chip cookies and homemade pies. We will miss that hardship forever. When Steve was small he would go fishing with Dad either North or at a small lake and Mom's parting words always were "wear your lifejacket". This became synonymous with "be careful". It was kind of embarrassing heading out with your friend at 18 when your mother is telling you to "wear your lifejacket", or at 55 going away for the weekend - "wear a lifejacket". Beth had her own moments. We grew up in a bay on the lake. We also had an old moose horn so when Mom would blow the horn, from all over the bay you could hear the kids yell down the shore "Beth, your Mom wants you." Mom never did learn how to drive anything - cars, bicycles, boats - anything with steering wheels or handle bars. The lack of roads when she was a kid probably explained why she never learned how to ride a bike but she didn't mind walking. Learning to drive a car came to an abrupt end with the car in a ditch with a note to Dad that translated to "I quit!" As she said "I wouldn't have been a good driver so why bother?" When the new community centre was being built, Mom was part of the group that would host huge turkey dinners for fund raising. They would also have craft and bake sales and quilt raffles - lots of hard work and lots of laughs. Also, for years their quilting group met every week for "stitch & bitch" where they made quilts for the hospital to raffle. She was very proud that their efforts so many years ago allow it to be enjoyed and prosper today. This wouldn't be complete without thanks to so many people that shared Mom's life. We couldn't begin to name them all but we know that each one was important to her and we thank all of you on her behalf for your love, laughter, tears and victories. There are so many stories and (surprising for those who know us) too few words so we would like you to come to the Walker's Point Community Centre on July 5th from 1:00 to 4:00pm to share yours. CELEBRATION OF ALICE DENNIS' LIFE JULY 5TH 1:00 - 4:00PM Walker's Point Community Centre

Service Information

Details:

A celebration of life for Alice Dennis will be July 5, 2014 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm at the Walker's Point Community Centre.

Interment Details

Innisvale Crematorium