CLARKE, Brenda

June 26, 1937 — January 30, 2024

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the loss of Brenda Clarke, who passed away peacefully into the presence of the Lord at the Hospice House in Kelowna, BC.

Brenda goes to join those who went before her, including her beloved husband, Jim (d. 2022); brother, Lorne; sister-in-law Nadine; and parents, Ross and Florence Jameson. Those left to treasure her memory are her two children, Mary-Ellen (Shawn) and John (Mari); grandchildren, Nicole (Rob), Cassandra (Brent), Joshua, and Alicia; her great-grandchildren, Jayden and Rayna; her brother, Wendell; her sister-law, Bev; as well as many extended family members and friends.

Brenda was born in Sherbrooke, Quebec where she grew up, attended school, and worked after graduation at Orient Hosier as a receptionist. In 1957, she moved to Toronto, Ontario. She worked for Bell Telephone Company and had numerous job positions there. That is where she met her lifelong friend Ruth. Mom lived in Port Credit, ON and used to commute to work on the train in 1958, and that is how she met her husband Jim.  They fell in love and were married in October 1959.  Mom and Dad started their family in Port Credit. Their daughter was born first, and then their son was born a few years later. They took on a Young People’s group at the United church there. They enjoyed drives out to the country to visit relatives and trips back to Sherbrooke to visit family. In the winter, they spent many weekends skating with the kids on the Port Credit River.  In June 1966, they moved to Kelowna, where Dad had relatives in Westbank. They eventually settled in Lakeview Heights.  Mom worked part-time as a secretary at St. Paul’s United Church while her children were in school.  She then worked at Rutland United Church for many years as well as church secretary.

Mom loved to figure skate, and she had John and me in figuring skating lessons. She would volunteer to help out when we were in the Kelowna Skating Carnival. We had many years of fun enjoying the sport.  Mom and Dad loved attending sporting events throughout the years. Mom and Dad would always be cheering on their children, grandchildren, and friends in any sport they were playing. Mom was overjoyed to be a Grandma. She loved the time spent with her grandchildren. She made the best apple pies and loved to bake goodies. She spent many Saturdays with her grandchildren making pies, and they would bring small ones home afterwards, so proud of the pies they made with Grandma. Mom loved to cook, and she hosted many dinners over the years. You could always pop in at dinner time and Mom would have a wonderful meal that she would offer you to stay for. She loved hosting many friends and families over the years with her great meals. Mom made beautiful afghans that she would give to all her family and friends. Mom, in her later years, enjoyed watching curling on TV and really enjoyed her word search books as well. You would also find her putting together puzzles with Jayden when he was a young boy and enjoying visits with Rayna. Mom just thought the world of all her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They all brought her so much joy and love.

Mom and Dad started attending Willow Park Church, and it became their home church. Mom volunteered for ushering and helping at Living Nativity. She was often encouraging others along the way. Over the years, they made long-lasting friendships and enjoyed the care groups they were part of. They brought many people to the Lord.

Retirement didn’t slow Mom down, she enjoyed time with her family and volunteering at Cotton Woods Extended Care for over 25 years. She had such a passion to visit and share a Bible reading, making puzzles, encouraging them along in their final years, and saying a prayer for them. She used to take her dog Lucky with her, and her friends at Cottonwoods loved to spend time with Lucky. He was very popular there. Mom had many health issues and many surgeries to replace hips and knees. She was back with her walker as soon as she could and brought sunshine into the lives of the residents at Cottonwoods. She sang in the fellowship choir with Dad at Willow Park Church. She enjoyed the fellowship with everyone. God helped Mom and Dad so much through some trying health issues in their older years. She knew that the Lord would always be there through the difficult times as well as the joy filled times. She loved the Lord so much. They both attended the YMCA and made many good friends through the years they went there. Doing Aqua fit and the gym helped Mom to get moving after all her surgeries.

As the years went on, Mom had the strength of the Lord with her to help her through very difficult times as her health deteriorated.  She was so blessed and thankful for the wonderful care Dad gave to her. She also had help with care-aids at home, and she always looked forward to their visit and care. She made many wonderful friendships with the care aids through the years. After Dad passed, she was blessed with continued help from her care-aids, her neighbours, and her good friend Dorthy. They had been friends for over 40 years, and Mom felt so blessed by her friendship, as she did her other friends. A year after Dad passed on to Glory, Mom moved into Mountainview Assisted Living. She just loved her new suite, the view of the goats, sheep, cows, and mountains out her window. She couldn’t get over all the buildings being built and loved to see the lights on the cranes at night. She made so many new friends and just loved the great care she was given and all the activities she could participate in.  Unfortunately, 7 months after moving into Mountainview she took a bad fall and broke her femur. She went into hospital end of July and unfortunately got a bad infection after surgery. They thought it was under control but when she was transitioned to Pathways home at Short Stay in Cottonwoods she had many setbacks and ended up back in the hospital for surgery to remove infection from the surgical area.  It was too long of a road back for her. Our family would like to thank the 4 West nurses who took care of Mom so well while she was there. She was transferred to The Kelowna Hospice House at the beginning of January and left there at the end of January to be with the Lord.   We want to thank all the nurses for the wonderful care and support they gave to Mom and our family for her short time there.  She was so well cared for by all the nurses and her doctor.  All your care, support, and kindness will not be forgotten.

Mom will be remembered for her caring and intuitive personality, wearing her heart on her sleeve, being kind, helpful, and encouraging to all who would meet her. We will miss her very much, and we are sad she is gone, but so overjoyed she is no longer suffering in pain any longer.  She ran a good race, and she is now at rest with her Saviour Jesus.

There will be a Graveside Service held in honour of Brenda, for her immediate family.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the YMCA or Gideon’s International.

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