Jayne posted a condolence
Tuesday, November 17, 2020
The Story of Lee As I Know It
It must have been a very cold day that January 1930 when Leda Annie Rempel was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The last of 5 daughters born to David and Susanna. Mom told me that her name was Lydia, but because her father had a German accent, the name the registrar heard was Leda.
The girls had special names for each other…oldest Mary was Meesh, then Olga was Ullul, Kay was Teeta, Suzie was Hootie and my Mom was Eee.
I don’t know how the family got to be in Saskatchewan nor why they left. Maybe the winters were too cold, or there was no work for their father, but no matter the reason they moved to Ontario when she was 9. At 14, Mom became a bell telephone operator. Ironic that the phone would become a source of frustration for her in later life.
She met my father in Niagara Falls, got married in 1952, and they settled in Niagara-on-the-Lake, where they raised 4 kids. Being that my dad was a long-haul truck driver and away a lot, Mom did the disciplining. And you all thought we were perfect angels. The “look” was all we needed to toe the line!
Mom worked at Sears in St. Catharines on the catalogue desk, at Kmart in St. Catharines on the customer service desk.
She worked at the Oban Inn in Niagara-on-the-Lake waiting tables, where she met her favorite movie star Cliff Robertson. (who?)
Eventually, Mom moved to Kitchener where she worked for Hiway Market, and she also waited tables at Swiss Chalet where she had a hilarious mishap involving hands full of plates, a slippery floor and an unsuspecting diner!
She hated eggs and milk but loved ice cream! She had an eye for sporty looking cars and even owned a number over the years. But there was one that she would always point to and exclaim “Oh, that’s a nice one! I’d like one of those!” “That’s a Corvette,” I would say. Not a Mustang, but still a good eye Mom!
Time marched on, Lynda moved away to the States. Mom took me in when my marriage broke down and was happy for me when I started a new career driving truck. She said, “You go girl!” Ironically, she said the same thing when I overstayed my welcome… after all, it was only 7 years!
Mom’s health deteriorated in the last few years. She absolutely did not want to hang up her car keys. I gave her a single driving lesson. Highlights of this adventure included an attempt at parallel parking, where she hit the gas instead of the brake. Then later, when approaching a stop sign, she whizzed through without so much as a hint on the brake. I said, “Mom you’re supposed to stop at the stop sign”. She replied, “Well, I looked!” That was enough to convince me, but not her. Nope, she insisted she was going to drive. “But Mom” I said. “You can’t drive without a licence.” To which she retorted, “What are they gonna do, kill me?” At which point, I hid her car.
Unfortunately, dementia stole my mom from me. The last 2 years have been especially difficult, for both of us, but I wouldn’t trade them for the world.
I miss you Mom.
Love, Jayne
