Obituary of Elsie Galbreath

Obituary Today we are gathered here to remember a well lived and well loved life, Elsie Marie Galbreath. This is a time we think about our times together, the love, the laughter, the sorrow and other life experiences shared with her because after today all we will have are our memories and the words with which to tell stories about this wonderful person. If you were prepared to listen she was more than happy to tell you about her life experiences. It is impossible to summarize a life of 97 and a half years in a few minutes but we are going to try to honor her life in these brief paragraphs as best we can. Every journey here on earth has a beginning and an ending, our mothers journey here was long and fruitful but not without many hardships and is now at an end. From the time she was a child, then thru the teenage years, until becoming a young independent woman, to marriage and motherhood, she would then age gracefully to become a grandmother and once again an independent senior after our father died. Her life spanned almost a century, a century of great turmoil and strife that included 2 world wars, a great depression and nuclear conflict. She would see the beginning of the age of the automobile or horseless carriage if you will, the beginnings of man taking flight from the Wright brothers to the jet engines and then the rockets that would land men on the moon. From the simplest telephone to the modern day wonder of today's cell phone. Our mother was born to relatively newly landed immigrants of just a few years, she would be the 3rd oldest in a family of 13. She was born in Edmonton in 1917, and lived in Alscot just north of there, her father was a railroad man and was away from home for long periods of time. It was instilled in her quickly in her childhood that life was going to be more about work than play. Chores were quickly delegated to each child in order for the family to become stronger and make life a little easier for everyone. Jobs were not plentiful and for the most part the food that you ate was what you learned to grow or could barter for and that the clothes on your back were mostly what you would make yourself. These skills she learned from her mother very early in her life. When she was around 8 years olds her father quit the railroad and decided to go farming around Mayfair , Saskatchewan. So the family loaded up and moved for hopefully greener pastures. There our mother would grow from a child to a teenager. Life on the farm was not easy once again everyone was delegated chores. There she continued to learn to sew, how to grow a garden, as well the farm had cows so she learned to milk and feed them. As well she learned to hitch a team of horses that were used for transport. In order to help bring in income they were the janitors for the school about a mile away. Our mother often told us about the bitter cold walk to school in the winter. Especially since they had to get up extra early in the morning in order to complete their chores at home before heading to school early in order to clean the school and stoke up the stove in the classroom so that the school house was warm when the teacher and other classmates arrived. Her father did not want them to take the horses as it would not be good for the horses to stand outside in the cold while they were in school all day, and there would be no ride from their father. Lunch at school often consisted of what was known as lard sandwichs. Of which she said was a lot better to get the brown lard as it had more taste. She often told us that it would be no use to complain as there would be no one to listen. So it was in her later life that she would convey to us kids that the walk to school especially in the bitter winter cold was definitely UP HILL BOTH WAYS. After just a few years on the farm came 1929 and a period of time that became known as the GREAT DEPRESSION, although our mother did not remember the great dust storms of some areas but life became very hard. When the farm failed in the late 30's the family moved back to the Peace River country first to Northstar and then Grimshaw. At this point her family became separated in order to survive. Some of the children went to live with other family, others with strangers across the peace. My mother had become a young woman by this time and although she had applied to a college in Kamloops to become a nurse, she gave that up to get a job so that she could send money to whoever needed it at the time. After all family came first. She worked cleaning and waitressing for a few years and when World War II broke out an opportunity to go to work at the post office became available. It was a dream job as opportunities for women like this did not come around often. Here she would develop life long friendships with other women that were given the same opportunity. Mom told us that part of the job entailed looking at the mail because in the forties families could send a post card with only the briefest of messages to tell others they were okay and these could be sent for 1 cent. But if they got too wordy then they became a letter and they cost 3 cents to send. It certainly kept her in loop of what was happening. One day mom was telling us that she and her 2 girl friends wanted to go to church one night but one of them didn't have a hat. Well in the forties you didn't go out without a hat... let alone to church without one. Well it just happened that one of them had noticed a torn package and just as unlikely inside there was a hat. So it was promptly extracted, worn to church and then in todays language repurposed back into a nicely addressed package and then sent on its way. Who knew she could be so resourceful. Then came the day a handsome young man named Pappy came driving up in his shiny car. Albeit somewhat humble as he had to apologize for backing into a tree outside the post office. Moms version was that he was a much better dressed fellow than most but not irresistible and dads version was he was so well dressed that she couldn't resist him. The rest is history. Pappy was a surveyor and during his travels he had spotted a piece of land that he thought would be a good place to have a business so when they were married mom and dad hitched that shiny car to a holiday trailer and headed for Fort St. John to what our family and many long time Fort St John residents remember as Pappy's corner at the bottom of 100 st and Alaska Hiway. The trip over from Peace River through Spirit River was not uneventful. It was a hiway in name only, around Gordondale there was a rut filled with water in the middle of the road and when they came out the other side the hitch had broken on the trailer and there they were. They noticed a farmer in the field and approached him about their troubles where he gladly stopped what he was doing and repaired the hitch and sent them on their way. After all its what you were supposed to do. Once in Fort St John they built a garage with a café attached. Where mom pulled double duty both at the café and raising a family. Life at times was very hard but once again there was no use to complain because their would be nobody to listen. The real pleasure in life came whenever family came over all of the aunts and uncles . I can and I believe the rest of our family and cousins can still hear the joy and the laughter from the adults playing cards and visiting at the dinner table. Mom would also become the Mrs. fixit in our family as dad worked long hours at the garage and was involved in civic responsibilities and local politics. She was very proud and possessive of her carpentry tools. When the house became to small for the family they added on and mom took a class to learn how to build the cupboards for the kitchen. I will always remember the adventure at Christmas time when it came time to find a Christmas tree. There would always be 2 trees harvested as the perfect tree could never be found.. but mom carefully drilled holes in one tree, then inserted branches from the second which often resulted in what we all thought was the perfect tree. As the family grew up and gradually left home TIM life as retirees and grandparents become their passion. Our mother loved to play cards, many of the grandchildren will remember hours of skipbo, tile rummy and golf as well as the noon hour lunches for grandchildren and their many friends. Since mom and dad lived across from the highschool this was very handy. If you greeted my mother and asked how she was a common response was Oh I can't complain after all it was her life lesson that it was no use to complain as there would be no one to listen. Not long ago I asked mom that since she had seen so many amazing advances in technology during her life what was the greatest invention for her. It did not take long to come back with an answer, it was clear to her that of all the things she had seen the washing machine had the biggest impact on her life. I think that over the course of our lives in the end we all may be surprised to find out what made the biggest difference once we have seen it all. Mom was truly a lifelong learner even until the end while living in the hospital. When a particular routine was explained to her she said "well I guess there are still some things I have to learn" Recently, she had expressed a regret of not having had access to parenting information "like they do nowadays". She said she may not have yelled so much. She wanted all of her kids to know that she loved each of them and recognized that their differences are what made them special. Just a side note some of us more independent ones may have deserved a little talking to. Our mom had a great life. She lived independently until last fall was rarely sick and was prepared to leave this earth. Death leaves a heartache no one can heal Love leaves a memory that no one can steal Those we love can never be more than a thought apart For as long as there is memory they will live on in the heart. She would not want us to grieve to long, but rather to celebrate the life that she had. There is no use to complain, because she will not listen. Cemetery Details Woodlawn Cemetery Fort St. John, BC, Funeral Service MAY 16. 02:00 PM Calvary Baptist Church 9607 - 107 Ave Fort St. John, BC, CA, V1J 2P5 Services