Obituary of Elsie Larson

Obituary Elsie Larson Our Mother began life as Elsie Marion Johnson. She told me her parents were both born in Oslo, Norway but did not meet until after their families had immigrated to the US. They married in North Dakota and moved up to Saskatchewan to homestead. Mom was born in Beechy but with the dust bowl crop failures the families packed up lock, stock and barrel in 1930 and headed north to Meadow Lake. This is where Mom grew up and she always spoke fondly of her childhood, despite the hard work it took to break new land. There was also the fact that she was born with a cleft lip and back in those days these problems were not easily addressed. Mom was about 20 years old when her lip was repaired. She was working in a hospital and one day a doctor there stopped her and said he could fix it for her. When she asked how much it would cost he said he needed help with filing in his office and if she could put in over-time at that it would be sufficient. This of course was a great gift and she took the opportunity. What a life-changing event it must have been! She was transformed into a beautiful swan and there was no doubt that it was good for her self-confidence. My Mom's family was very musical and social. Her dad played violin and she said he could bring tears to your eyes. Her Mother played organ. Her brothers Allan and Tinus were both skilled at various wind instruments and Mom loved Tiny's ability to play any instrument he picked up. Brothers Herman and Ernie could play anything with strings, sister pearl played banjo and Mom played piano. Pearl and Mom were the babies being much younger than their older sister and brothers. While in Beechy her dad, brothers and brother-in-law were in a brass band. After the move to Meadow Lake they whole family lived together for the first winter in a rented log house and supplemented their earnings by playing at dances while making the acquaintance of their neighbours-to-be. Her dad is even rumoured to have written some original music, like one called The Johnson Rag. Raised on music, laughter and dancing, I believe she knew much happiness. She and my sister Dawn spent three summers going to Bluegrass Festivals in the early 80's and these were times she would revel in. She was the youngest of seven and grew up to be model lean and striking looking like her dad and brothers. I think she was a bit of a tomboy and I know she beaked a boy in the nose after he dipped her braid in the inkwell on his desk, proving she could look after herself. When asked how tall she was, she would tell people she was 5 foot eleven and 3/4 inches. I guess she liked saying that better than fudging and saying 6 feet. I know she loved when she got to go to Vancouver and shop at the Big and Tall Store for Women. She was a natural athlete. She was a whiz on skates and said she loved skating with her Father. Any pond, lake or river would do. My sister Lyn says she remembers my Mom taking her to a pond near home and skating under the bright light of a full moon. Mom was pregnant with Judy at the time. The snow had diamond points and the air was pure and all she could hear was their voices, laughter, breathing and their skates. Mom loved baseball and was a good player in her own right but when she and her sister Pearl played together they were a 'dynamic duo' that caused opposing teams lots of grief. Judy reminded us how once TV was introduced the world would stand still while Mom was watching the World Series. Cooking and cleaning would stop altogether although she was known to do her ironing while watching because she could set up the board in front of the TV. She was a gifted curler and played a lot over the years. Later in life she would be found glued to the TV watching the bonspiels leading up to the World Championships. She also kicked butt at shuffleboard up at the Carehome on Tuesdays garnering lots of prizes along the way. Ultimately I think Mom's greatest 'love' in sports was golf. My Mom charmed the pants off of four fellas, three of them giving her children and the fourth, Art Larson, giving her a real home, stability and Golf. My Mom, brother Rocky and sister Dawn took lessons to learn the game. Then they would all travel, staying in the camper, and hit all kinds of golf courses. Rocky and Dawn will tell you those were some of the best times they ever had. Mom loved being on the greens and Art is to be thanked for introducing her to that sport. And for the addiction that would end up affecting nearly everyone in the family! She played the game into her 60's until the arthritis in her wrist and shoulder got too bad. Of course she would be found glued to the TV watching all the major opens and very vocally telling them what they were doing wrong. Then there were the card games. Her competitive nature could not be bridled and she loved it when she would win. My sister Wendy said mom would literally chortle with happiness when she won a hand of gin rummy. Old days would see her and friends playing crib tournaments for hours. She loved photography and even did some darkroom work at one time. She always insisted that we have family photos on a regular basis and we are glad of that now that we are older. This addiction has led to us having several 'shutterbugs' in the family and I am sure family members and spouses are glad for the advent of computers and the digital age because we don't have to print every photo. Mom was an avid gardener and produced amazing vegetables and flowers. She was also good at preserving and we were blessed to have her canned and frozen foods through tough times and winter months. She finally had the ideal location in the house that she and Art bought because it had running water, great sun exposure and plenty of room for the veggies and the flowers. She became semi-famous for her gladiolas and people walking by would always compliment her on them when she was out working in the garden. Like with most Mom's we can recall how good a cook she was and each of us can list our own favourites but she was also famous for her bread and cinnamon buns. Judy and Wendy had school friends that would just 'happen' to be around after school on the days when they found out she was making bread. She took lessons and learned how to make Chinese food which was a popular request for special occasions like everyone's birthdays. It was an all day event preparing that meal and she really did it well. My dad would brag he was a better cook than her but he never proved that. She conceded the baking of sweet buns to my sister Dawn though; saying she'd never make them again because Dawn made them too good. Wendy laughs when she talks about trying to learn how Mom made her bread because none of Mom's measurements were standard. A handful of salt by my Mom's hand was a lot different than a handful of salt in Wendy's. She was never too old to learn new things either. She and my sister dawn took a Massage Therapy program and had to travel to Edmonton once a month or so to learn the practical training and testing. My brother Rocky is still grateful that they never had an accident in those many months because one thing Mom wasn't very good at was driving. We all have stories about that I am sure. Anyway, Mom and Dawn got their certification and Mom worked from home for many years. Many people can attest to her healing powers and Mom loved being able to help people with her abilities. She had a lively wit and I loved it when others would get a kick out of some little saying she used frequently. After eating a filling meal she would say "Well I don't care if I eat now or not!" Once after taking her to Bingo where I won $8, she says to my husband when he asked how it went, "I didn't win nothing-but that one", jacking a thumb in my direction dramatically-"she cleaned up!" Elsie loved to dance and sing and laugh. She was a true friend to her friends and a whole-hearted partner to her mates. She was proud of us six kids and all our offspring and only wanted us to be happy and to know love and success. She never gave up on any of us, no matter what kind of trouble we got into. My brother Rocky especially credits her for that. She loved being the matriarch of five generations and was quite surprised at the big gatherings at how we had proliferated. A couple of years ago my sister Wendy took a bit of a fall and Mom saw it and screamed out her name and cried and was just as worried as she would have been if Wendy was a little girl. She never stopped being a Mom, even worrying about us when we were spending time with her at the hospital. It's hard to let her go but we hope she's watching Coronation Street, Golf, Curling, or Baseball and drinking a pint of beer! We love you Mom! Celebration of Life AUG 9. 02:00 PM Christian Life Centre 8923 - 112 Ave BC, CA, V1J 6G2 Services