Edna Grace Miller (nee Chappell) passed away peacefully on Thursday, October 1st at the Guelph General Hospital just steps away from both Glenhill Place where she raised her family and the Homewood where she was proud to work. She had just entered her 97th year.
She was predeceased by her husband, Robert (Bob) Miller in 1974 and was the loving mother and supporter to Bob, Ben (Susan) and Sarah (David Miller). She was the proud grandmother of Frances (Kerry), Rob (Jennifer), Peter, Kendra, Courtney (John), Martha (Scott) and Thomas.
Edna was very grateful for many things in her life. Firstly, to have been born and raised on a farm in Saugeen Township near Port Elgin and to be the daughter of a loving Mother who was always there for her and a hardworking progressive Father. She was predeceased by all her siblings, Pearl, Roy, Florence, Marie, Eva and John and just recently was able to name them all in order. She is survived by two sister-in-laws, Islay Chappell and Leny Miller and many nieces and nephews.
She was grateful to have attended the White Schoolhouse beside the Saugeen golf course and later the Port Elgin High School. She took great joy in all facets of farm life including, pitching in with chores, riding her pony, Babe, and especially sharing the Peacock room with Florence. She ventured off to Toronto to attend the Wellesley Hospital School of nursing with her good friend Edith Fenton. Edna and Edith returned home to Port Elgin as often as they could in Edith’s car and Edna, the non-smoker, was happy to light her cigarettes. After graduation, she worked at Mount Saini, Toronto General, Toronto Psychiatric Hospital and eventually as a Private Duty nurse because it paid more.
She was grateful to have met Bob Miller through a classmate while in Toronto. Bob happened to summer with his family at Gobles Grove just south of Port Elgin. They attended dances at the Cedar Crescent Casino on the Beach and eventually married in 1951 settling in Fort Frances, Ontario where Bob was a high school science teacher. She continued working at the LaVerendrye Hospital. Their sons were born there and it was a very happy time.
In 1956 they moved back to the south settling in Guelph where Bob was from. To their joy a daughter arrived a few years later. Edna worked hard to support her family and husband and volunteered on the Elliott Home Auxiliary, with the Teacher’s Wives and as a Pastoral Aide at Knox church. She lived on a wonderful street where she would watch the children at one end and Marion Steep and Helen Whyte would watch them at the other. She was very creative-sewing clothes, knitting, modifying garments into unique creations and getting annoyingly involved in her children’s school projects. It all gave her great pleasure.
When Bob died, despite her sadness, she focused on and was grateful for the 23 years they had together and carried on by returning to work in psychiatry, a field she had enjoyed earlier. Her job was part time but she picked up so many extra shifts that she worked more than full time hours, eventually saving enough to quietly acquire shares in the Homewood. She was an astute investor with what she had and once remarked that if she had been a man she could have been really successful. It took some convincing for her to realize she was a success.
She had a tremendous work ethic, something she instilled in her children and grandchildren. And she loved nothing more than to gather all of them at the pioneer log cottage she and Bob had built in Gobles Grove. She was very proud to own it and come back every summer to the area that she called home.
She spent the last almost 12 years of her life as a proud and involved resident of the community of Riverside Glen often welcoming new residents to the floor and putting her calm nursing skills to practice. These were extremely contented years which can be attributed to two things: her dementia allowed her to forget about her worries and the incredible care and love she received from her Riverside Glen family, specifically on Emma’s floor. We appreciate all of you.
We are grateful to all the lovely people who have touched our mother’s life but mostly we are grateful to our mother for the wonderful life she provided us.
A private family service will be held at the Gilchrist Chapel, McIntyre and Wilkie Funeral Home, 1 Delhi Street, Guelph on Saturday, October 3, 2020. Interment Woodlawn Memorial Park, Guelph. Donations are welcome to Knox Presbyterian Church, Guelph or to the Foundation of the Guelph General Hospital. We invite you to leave your memories and donations online and they will be forwarded to the family.