Obituary of Anne Callison

Obituary Anne Callison, born December 15, 1921, in Velyki Hlibovychi, near Lviv, Ukraine (then part of Poland), passed away in her sleep, 99 years and 5 months later, on May 30, 2021, in Fort St. John, B.C. Anne had received exceptional care at the North Peace Villa, the extended care home where she lived with advancing dementia until her passing, after receiving the last rights of her Roman Catholic faith, which was central to her life and to that of her parents, Tom Grendys and Anastasia Grendys (nee Hamulyak). The Grendys family — Anne, her sister Mary, and brothers John, Leo, Alex, and Joe – emigrated to Canada, arriving in Halifax on June 1, 1929 and settling on a farm near Huallen, west of Grande Prairie, Alberta. In January 1943, Anne took a job in Fort Nelson at George’s General Store and Café, which served fur trappers, Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, and the US Army, who were building and maintaining the Alaska Highway. Anne met John Callison in the spring of 1944 when he arrived to sell his winter fur at the store. They married in Edmonton on July 10, 1944. Anne is survived by her three sons: Adley, Wayne and Darcey. Anne raised Adley and Wayne (born 1945 and 1946) on John’s Kledo River trapline for six years, north of Fort Nelson, B.C., until they moved to Dawson Creek, where they built a motel in 1951. Darcey was born in Dawson Creek 2 years later. After 20 years in Dawson Creek, their children grown, Anne and John moved to Fort St. John so John could be close to their Murdale farm. Adley and his first wife, Carol, raised two of Anne’s grandsons, Clinton and Dustin, in Fort St. John. Clinton and his wife Cheryl gave Anne a great-granddaughter, Peyten. Granddaughter Isobel was born to Adley and his second wife, Shannon, in 2011; living at the Murdale farm close to Anne, they were a precious presence to her up to her last day. Wayne and his wife Andrea raised four of Anne’s grandchildren: Dorian, Justin, Aiden and Haleigh, in Smithers, B.C. Justin and wife Krista, of Vancouver, gave Anne two great-grandsons, Emmett and Dylan. Aiden and husband Jason, also of Vancouver, gave Anne another greatgrandson, Oliver. Anne was a member of the CWL for most of her married life, in Dawson Creek and in Fort St. John. In 1985 and 1987 she was President of the CWL in Fort St. John, and she remained active as long as she was able. Anne also worked in and managed the Fort St. John Hospital Auxiliary Thrift Store for many years. At the age of 99+, Anne survived all of her five siblings and their spouses, and all of her husband John’s immediate family of 8 siblings and their spouses. She is survived by three children of our Grandfather Fred Callison’s second marriage in 1959 to Ethel Quock of the Tahltan Nation in B.C.: Dempsey, Anne, and Jerry Callison. As you can imagine, there are 75+ nieces and nephews from her Grendys and Callison siblings who called her Auntie Anne and were always welcomed by, and attentive to, their Peace River Matriarch. In 2018, Anne’s sister’s daughter Erín Moure very generously and graciously authored a book, “A Century in the North Peace,” on the lives of her aunt and uncle Anne and John, fulfilling Anne’s last life wish. It is a treasure to us all. Memorial service will be held Thursday, August 12 at 3:00 pm from the Catholic Church of the Resurrection. In lieu of flowers expressions of sympathy can be made in memory of Anne to the Catholic Church of the Resurrection’s C.W.L. Services Memorial Service Thursday August 12, 2021 3:00 PM Church of the Resurrection 9504-100 ave Fort St John, BC V1J1x7