It’s with sad and heavy hearts that we are announcing the death of
Edna Florence Spicer in the early hours of Dec 10th, 2023. She passed
peacefully, in the presence of loved ones at Rockyview Hospital in Calgary.
Edna is fondly remembered by her husband Lloyd, her sons:
Kirk (Joanne), Grant (Jane), and Jason (Deirdre), grandchildren
Alexa, Amanda, Ashleigh, Curtis (Shayla), Luke and Abiagael,
great-grandchildren Madelyn, and the twins Easton and Axel, her
many nieces and nephews, including Deborah and her daughter Karly,
and special friends Paul and Carol Butuk, Gwen Smith, Colin
and Yolanda Sampson.
She is predeceased by her parents, her siblings: Leroy, Ernie, Bill, and
Rose, her infant son Robert, as well as her granddaughter Sarah.
She was born Edna Florence Tompke on July 18th, 1942, to Edward
and Florence in the little farming community of Lake Alma in southern
Saskatchewan. She was the youngest of five siblings. She grew up
modestly and enjoyed riding her horse and playing music with her
friends and family. She excelled at singing and playing guitar, with her
signature song being “Me and Bobbie Magee”. She grew into a beautiful
young woman and eventually becoming a nursing assistant at the
Weyburn Union Hospital.
In Weyburn, she met Lloyd Spicer while on a blind date. He was
training to be an accountant and it turned out that they had much in
common, and they were married on October 26th, 1963. And so began
a remarkable example of love, commitment and teamwork that lasted six
decades. They moved several times over the years usually for work and
required that Edna adapt to new environments and locations often very
different from the last one. Edna was up for the challenge; first to big city
of Regina, SK and then to the village of Minton, SK, a tiny town close to the
U.S. border and the Big Muddy, then to the resort community of Chase B.C.
on the Shuswap, and then to a farm near Halbrite, SK. In the late 1970s
Edna and Lloyd bought a small business named Prairie Pump Service and
built their first home on Brimacombe Dr inWeyburn. Edna loved having her
own home and they did the painting and landscaping work including the
large deck, the stone fountain, and the beautiful gardens. The house was
open to the boy’s friends with lots of memories created.
With the sale of the business, they moved to an acreage in
Summerland, B.C. that contained a small apple orchard. With only one child
left at home, Edna returned to the nursing field, trained as an L.P.N and
worked at a nursing home. She enjoyed caring for these dear ones as well
as the chores involved in being an orchardist. After several years they said
goodbye to Summerland and finally retired to the Alberta foothills at Black
Diamond. This proved to be their last move, but they didn’t stay retired for
long as they decided to buy the historic Black Diamond Hardware store.
They enjoyed providing an important service to the community. Lloyd and
Edna became “fixtures” along with Charlie, their Jack Russell terrier, and
their gorgeous geranium display in the front window. They closed the store
in 2002 and transitioned into property management and spending time at
their cabin at Buffalo Lake, near Stettler.
Edna was blessed with an abundance of energy with a practical
nature. She liked to be busy and took great pride in taking care of her home
and yard, as well as her family. And while cooking wasn’t her favorite task,
she did enjoy baking, especially her dinner buns and bread, using the giant
green Tupperware bowl. Other special occasion dishes included a pistachio
shortbread dessert, spaghetti and meatballs, a delicious Galliano Bundt
cake and her famous oatmeal chocolate cookies. Edna also cared for the
family pets, even down to grooming which she became very proficient at.
She could be seen walking the dog in the neighborhood at least once a day.
They had mostly dogs with the occasional cat.
She took great pride in her sons’ accomplishments, with Kirk and
Jason becoming pharmacists and Grant becoming a Calgary firefighter.
Edna also enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren and now great
grandchildren. She was a strong, capable and determined woman who will
greatly be missed by all who knew and loved her.
