Obituary of SIDE – Deborah Deb Janet

It is with great sadness that the Side family announces the peaceful passing of Deborah Janet Side on Sunday, April 18, 2010 at Agape Hospice in Calgary at the age of 55 years in the presence of immediate family. Deb was born in Minnedosa, Manitoba – the second of three girls and a younger brother. She graduated from Minnedosa Collegiate in 1972 where she was a popular student and worked in hospital administration before moving with her four year old daughter to Calgary in 1977. She quickly fell in love with the mountains and trained in ice climbing and related mountaineering activities with the Calgary Mountain Club. Over the next several years she worked for various companies and married one of the founding members of a new oil and gas company where she worked in 1981. She subsequently became a full time homemaker with the birth of their second daughter in 1985 and their son in 1987. While raising her three children, she volunteered at the children’s schools, was a lead participant in developing a Block Watch organization for the Varsity community, and became heavily involved in her daughters’ baton and dance clubs and the NorGlen Rhythmic Gymnastics Club. She later joined NorGlen’s Ladies Group and performed as a member of Team Canada at the 2007 World Gymnaestrada in Austria. The family enjoyed frequent travel abroad and were all avid mountain campers and downhill skiers. Deb was active with Calgary Outdoor Recreation Enthusiasts (CORE) hiking club and developed many enduring friendships among the members. For the last several years, helping organize the Calgary Woman’s Show became a passionate endeavour and she will be sorely missed by their busy, professional staff. Deb was well known for her kind heart, enthusiasm for adventure and her determination, and she is universally remembered as a beautiful and cheerful person by all who knew her. Besides her loving husband Allan, Deborah is greatly missed by her two daughters, Jennifer (Dan) and Amanda, and her son Brady. She is also survived by parents Beverley and Lyle Cooper of Minnedosa, Manitoba; sisters, Audrey Riemer (Stuart) and Brenda Sing (Steve); brother David Cooper (Vicki); and numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews and nieces. A Memorial Service and Celebration of Deb’s Life will be held at Wild Rose United Church (1317 – 1st Street N.W.) on Monday, April 26, 2010 at 2:00 p.m., with the Rev. Linda C. Hunter officiating. In lieu of flowers, friends and family are invited to make a donation to the creation of a lasting Memorial Bench to beautify Bowmont Park where Deb loved walking every day in the summer (details may be obtained from the Side family). The family offers heartfelt thanks to the support of Dr. David Todd and to Dr. Scot Dowden and his team at Tom Baker Cancer Centre, and to Dr. Ulrich Lauf and the deeply caring staff of Agape Hospice for making Deb’s last days truly comfortable and peaceful, surrounded by the love of her family. In living memory of Deborah Side, a tree will be planted at Fish Creek Provincial Park by McINNIS & HOLLOWAY FUNERAL HOMES, Chapel of the Bells, 2720 CENTRE STREET NORTH Telephone: (403) 276-2296. Condolences may be forwarded through www.mcinnisandholloway.com.