Obituary of BUR – Mary Olive

Feb. 17, 1919 – Jan. 11, 2010 With great sorrow, our family announces the sudden passing of our cherished matriarch, Olive Bur, at the age of 90. She is survived by her husband of 60 years, Raymond, and her five children — Doug; Donald (Joanna) and grandchildren Olivia, Sebastian; Marion (Jerry) Brunen and grandchildren Jeffrey, Joel, Matthew, Megan; Kenn (Dee) and grandchildren Kassidee, Makadia; and Maureen (Desmond) Turner and grandchildren Madison, Morgan and Mallory. Olive was predeceased by her parents, Tom and Ida Dyke, and brothers Paul, Floyd and baby sister Evelyn. Olive was born in Dodsland, Saskatchewan and grew up on her beloved farm near Winslow, Saskatchewan. Despite having polio at the age of three, she remembered a wonderful childhood. Like her mother and grandparents, she was born to be a teacher. She taught at several rural schools in Saskatchewan and then in Alberta at Standard, Indus and Calgary. Her favourite subject was mathematics, and she later tutored dozens of children for free. Olive made countless sacrifices for her children and was very proud of their educational achievements, spouses and grandchildren. Her other great loves were animals and plants. Olive worked hard all her life — as a teacher, a mother and a farmwoman who enjoyed fieldwork and farm chores. After farming for 40 years with Ray east of Crossfield, she ‘retired’ with Ray to the Town of Crossfield in 1990. Always willing to help the underdog (even though she suffered greatly from the daily pain of trigeminal neuralgia since the ‘70s), she tirelessly championed many political and social issues during her retirement that she felt were unjust. A great woman has left a remarkable legacy: everything our mother / grandmother unselfishly did for us — and so many other people in her lifetime — will always be remembered. A celebration of Olive Bur’s life will be held at the Crossfield Community Hall on Friday, Jan. 15th at 2 p.m. (Friends and relatives unable to attend are invited to send their condolences to burs@shaw.ca or Burs, P.O. Box 206, Crossfield, AB, TOM OSO.) Memorial donations may be made to the Salvation Army.