Obituary of Ruth Callison

Obituary Ruth Callison December 13, 1933 - February 18, 2016 Ruth was born at McCallum Settlement, near Truro, Nova Scotia on December 13, 1933. It was a happy but difficult childhood with 9 children and very little money, their father was a logger and was away a lot. They had to walk 3 miles each way to school. Ruth was always small and had to fight for her share of dinner making her always a little feisty. Ruth married Ken MacKay in 1951 and then came west in 1953. They had 2 children. Dwight was born while they were living in Grande Prairie in 1956 and then they moved to Dawson Creek where Kimberly was born in 1960. Ruth stayed home with the children until they were in school and then opened a Beauty Salon. At first her salon was in her home and then she opened a shop downtown, followed by an additional location in McKenzie and looked after both. In 1972 Ruth married Garry Callison in Kelowna. She had two Beauty Salons while they lived in Kelowna also. In 1973 they moved to Terrace for Garry to be a judge. In Terrace Ruth spent all her time fishing, often by herself, so all they ate when they lived there was salmon! After that the family lived in Dawson Creek for a year and then finally Fort St John where Garry and Ruth opened a Law Practice in 1975. Ruth looked after everyone very well while she was working at the office, and often people came to the office just to visit with her. Kimberly worked with them as the accountant until 1988 when she left to pursue Real Estate. In 1989, a year after Kim had started in real estate, Ruth joined her at Ivor Miller Realty. The pair were very successful and they ended up buying the real estate company. Stacey later joined them in the business when she was 19. They made a great team of 3 generations and adored working together until Ruth's retirement. Ruth would have stayed working much longer if she had been able to, she loved being with Kim and Stacey in the action at the office. Ruth was a very hard worker. Her and Garry built their dream home at the Old Fort several years after moving to Fort St. John. She loved the outdoors, they had a huge garden for many years. Ruth enjoyed many hours as co-pilot on the boats on the Peace or at Williston Lake. She loved to fish and hunt probably even more than Garry. Often asking Lee Goode or Garnet Goode (Stacey's Dad) to take her hunting. Ruth was blessed with 8 grand children and made many trips to visit them and kept them all close. Over the years were many holidays and trips to visit kids and grandkids. There always many adventures like jaguar hunting in Costa Rica, fishing and enjoying the seafood on South Padre Island with friends, renting motorhomes and traveling through Nova Scotia and Newfoundland with the Henderson's, and more recently trips to Hawaii which she loved. Lee-Ann & Greg live in Oregon so many trips over the years to visit them as well. Her last trip was to Phoenix with Dwight and Kimberly last Spring, Phoenix was a favourite of hers. Ruth had a wonderful life and was loved by many, though has lost many close friends and family over the years. She was courageous, independent, brave and extremely loyal, as well as a fearless entrepreneur - always excited about a new investment. Ruth had Glaucoma for many years and then got Dementia which gradually progressed over the years. Her last year was particularly difficult and heartbreaking. Much credit has to be given to Garry who looked after her very well, and her care giver Sherneth who was what Ruth called her little friend, and who had endless patience. Everyone trying to keep Ruth happy and comfortable in her home on the river as long as possible. Left here with wonderful memories of this amazing woman are her loving husband Garry, son Dwight who lives in Nanaimo with Jackie (nee Stark) and their two boys Liam, 19 and Sean, 17. Kimberly who was her business partner for so many years and her children Lee, Stacey and her spouse Darcy, and Chad, 16. Lee-Ann who lives in Bend, Oregon with her two boys Max, 12 and Tyler, 9, and Greg who lives in Eugene, Oregon with his two boys Parker, 16 and Clay, 13. As well as Ruth's sister's Fran, Annabelle, Faye and brother David. Ruth Callison's Celebration of Life will be held at the Fort St. John Legion on Thursday February 25, 2016 - anyone who knew Ruth is invited to drop in between 3-6pm. In lieu of flowers expressions of sympathy can be made to the Alzheimer Society of British Columbia in memory of Ruth Callison. Celebration of Life FEB 25. 03:00 PM - 06:00 PM Royal Canadian Legion Hall 10103 105 Ave Fort St. John, BC, CA, V1J 2M4 Services