Obituary of Randie Rae LIND

December 11, 1947 – High River, Alberta

August 28, 2020 – Calgary, Alberta

 

Randie Lind, beloved wife of Jeff Gruttz, of Calgary, AB, passed away on Friday, August 28, 2020 at the age of 72 years.

 

Randie spent her first thirteen years being raised on the family farm east of Nanton until 1961, when the family moved into the town of Nanton. Randie loved visiting all the neighboring cousins by horseback (Brownie) and bicycle. She spent one school year at home recuperating from rheumatic fever. This is the year she learned to love reading. Randie also travelled numerous times to Banff with her brother and parents which included winter ski trips.

 

Randie attended the University of Calgary and obtained her Bachelor of Education, majoring in English Literature. Randie always participated in discussions and rallies in support of student empowerment, peace and social justice. This became an ongoing thread throughout her life.

 

During the summer of 1967, Randie lived in a communal ‘Work Camp’ in Toronto with students from across Canada, including Sandy Vida and future spouse Ivan Freeman, with a project to run a coffee house in the Trinity Square Annex. Along with Sandy on washboard, Randie played tambourine in a jug band at the coffee house. One band member was Mitch Podolak, co-founder of the Winnipeg Folk Festival (and others). It was a memorable summer with Love-Ins in Queen’s Park and a weekend bus trip to Montreal to visit Expo 67.

 

For about five years, beginning in 1968, Randie lived in a ‘co-op house’ with John and Marian Freeman; Marg Sanden, Margie and George Simpson; Bob Stowell, and others at different times. She joined the Calgary Public School Board in 1968 as a grade three teacher for one year, and in 1972, she attended Mount Royal College to study for her Early Childhood Education Certificate. She continued doing courses in Effective Listening and Problem Solving and in 1974, she began her two years as a day care teacher and two years as a kindergarten teacher. In 1976, she went on to continue her education and receive her diploma in Early Childhood Services. Her career continued as she joined the Campus Pre-School Parent Co-Operative as a Teacher later becoming the Teacher /Director. She joined the Early Childhood Professional Association of Alberta and Early Childhood Specialists Council of the Alberta Teachers’ Association, and began cultivating long term friendships with parents, former students and even children of former students.

 

In 1969, Randie married Ivan Freeman and they first lived together in Burnaby, BC as part of the Simon Fraser University community. In 1973, they welcomed their son, Matthew, while living by the Bow River in Calgary. Randie and Ivan enjoyed being youth hostel parents in Banff National Park with young Matthew.  In 1986, she took her education even further and completed Family Day Home Supervisor Training at Mount Royal College. 

 

Randie met Niels (Nick) Rasmussen at an art gallery in Calgary where they discussed a mutual appreciation for the author Tom Robbins and in 1978, they were married. She gave birth to their son, Kai in 1980. They took many family trips with Niels’ first son, Damian, who lived with his mother on Galiano Island. Randie, Niels and the three boys took multiple summer and Christmas trips to visit family in Central and Southern Alberta, and spent many summers camping in BC and AB.  Three longer, memorable trips of family bonding were a visit to Randie’s parents in Arizona at Christmas, 1979, and two summer vacations to England in 1985 and 1990.

 

In January 1996, Randie met her future spouse, Jeff Gruttz on an Elbow Valley Cycle Club cross-country ski trip into Elizabeth Parker Hut, Yoho National Park. They took multiple trips to the United States’ Southwest plateau and canyon country for bicycling, as well as backpacking and hiking. Randie and Jeff took many self-supported mountain bike camping trips together on the Great Divide MTB Route Banff to Grand Teton NP in several stages, and bicycle camping trips to Germany, Austria, France, The Netherlands, Channel Islands, Southern England (including a nearly complete circumnavigation of the Southern England coast), Wales, United States, Canada and backpacking trips through the Canadian Rockies with Jeff.  

 

Randie loved travelling. A first backpack ‘get to know each other’ trip with Jeff in April 1996 was five days through Arizona and Utah’s (partially slot canyon) Buckskin Gulch and Paria River. There were many trips to Alaska with her parents; Vancouver Island with family; China and South Korea.

 

In 2002, Randie initiated the yearly meeting of all her Dwelle girl cousins with Jennifer occasionally attending from California.   

 

She took yearly outdoor camping and bicycling trips with WWWOWsies (Wise Wild Women on Wheels, close women friends partaking in annual week long or longer outdoor activities) that included Randie, Marg, Esther, Heidi and Denise (1996 – 2019). The trips included the Kettle Valley Railbed, David Thompson Highway, Kananaskis to Waterton, Vancouver Island and Sedona, AZ (September 2019). Highlights were two bicycling trips to the Netherlands with overnights at Denise’s siblings and friends along the way. The group’s first trip was bicycling the Icefields Parkway Jasper to Lake Louise staying at hostels.

 

She did five or six yearly small trailer camping trips with Jeff, Marg and Mitch to the United States, usually in February and March (2011 – 2016). Great times were had in national and state parks in Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and California. There were many fascinating hiking and biking trips and numerous places of historical interest were visited.

 

There were yearly trips to visit with family teaching at various international schools in Nanchang and Xiamen, China and Suwon, South Korea. She visited surrounding areas during visits including Beijing, The Great Wall, Seoul, Taiwan and Thailand (2012 – 2019), the latter two with Matt and Mei’s family.      

 

Closer to home Randie loved the round-trip cycling trip from Waterfowl Lakes Campground to Bow Summit with Jeff by cycling in the cold rain to the summit in August 2019. It was almost as if she knew this would be her last bicycle ride. After the ride the small Chalet trailer gave her the warmth she needed after this almost hypothermic ride and, as she described it, “an exhilarating ride.” She was such a strong cyclist! Randie loved her bicycles: Sprout, Randie’s beloved travel and folding bicycle and her mountain bike, Bolter.

 

March 26, 2020 culminated the entire month’s visit with all grandchildren as well as her son Matthew and daughter-in-law Mei at the Dulcina Hospice. Matthew stayed longer in Calgary for a final Mother’s Day celebration.

 

The last summer had been filled with one-on-one visits with special friends in Randie and Jeff’s backyard garden, horseback riding at cousins Trudy and Josh’s quarter section southeast of Chain Lakes Provincial Park, trailer camping at Chain Lakes Provincial Park, Drumheller, Beaver Flats Campground on the Elbow River, local Calgary parks along the Bow River and Nose Hill Park with perfectly clear blue skies and warm days. 

 

July 26 to 29, 2020 was her last camping trip with Jeff and was accompanied by visits from Esther and Denise at Beaver Flats Campground.

 

August 24, 2020 was the last outing with Randie and WWWOWsies at Silver Springs Botanical Gardens, Calgary. All WWWOWsies will always remember this as a sacred place. 

 

Randie was a member of, and volunteered with the Calgary Preschool Teachers Association now SAPTA or Southern Alberta Pre-School Teachers' Association, Jane Austen Society of North America (co-founder of Calgary chapter), Jane Austen Dancers, also known as Sprigged Muslin Dancers (founding member) a Regency Period dance group, Elbow Valley Cycle Club (one-time president), Foothills Nordic Ski Club, Biathlon Alberta, Wise Wild Women on Wheels, Bow Valley College Tutor Group (CEDA, Centre of Excellence and Drinks and Appies), The Fab Four with regular outings with Richard, Karin and Sandy, Raging Grannies - Calgary chapter and Calgary Unitarians.

 

She enjoyed engaging with pre-schoolers and especially enjoyed watching three and four year olds experience nature’s wonders for their first time. Many parents learned about young children watching Randie interact with her students.

 

She loved seeing the growth and development of her son’s (Matthew’s) young family with three amazing grandchildren in an international school background – Oscar, Summer, Mya. She will be remembered for being a loving and fun grandmother. The second son’s (Kai) development of a business venture also gratified Randie.

 

Randie’s poetry memorization project spanned ten years where Randie learned one hundred and six poems and diligently reviewed all to keep them fresh (“One Hundred Poems I Have Known”). Each year’s complete set of poems was shared with friends and family. It was common to be with Randie when an experience reminded her of a poem and applicable lines would be promptly recited. 

 

She enjoyed keeping active. “Addicted to exercise” in Randie’s words: singing, running (twenty years), hiking, swimming, yoga, cross-country skiing and biathlon. 

Other activities included reading and re-reading British mystery novels including authors Dorothy L. Sayers, Angela Thirkell, Barbara Pym, and Edmond Crispin. Favourite British children’s novel writers included Arthur Ransome and Enid Blyton. Randie’s affection for the latter two authors is shared by her children and grandchildren. Other areas of interest included WW II and Winston Churchill. Gardening connected Randie to her Nanton farming roots. Home-grown tomatoes were coveted at the end of each gardening season.

 

Other passion were thrift store shopping anywhere, but was particularly keen on thrift stores while bicycle touring in Southern England, exploring new travel destinations, particularly in Southeast Asia, which was never an intended destination until family began their professions in international teaching, and travelling to Europe, especially England.

 

Randie was one of the fortunate five percent who walked away under their own steam from hospice care and enjoyed life for an additional three months.

 

 

Randie will be most remembered for being a well-loved and gifted pre-school teacher, influencing the social development of hundreds of pre-schoolers in northwest Calgary. She will also be remembered for creating solid relationships with and among a large circle of friends, some fifty years and longer, many of whom visited over the last year and her calm and loving support of family members. It was clearly evident Randie was loved. 

 

Besides her loving spouse, Jeff Gruttz, Randie is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Matthew and Mei-Lyn Freeman, grandchildren Oscar, Summer and Mya of Songdo, Incheon, South Korea; son Kai Lind-Rasmussen of Calgary, AB; step-son Damien Rasmussen, former spouse Nick Rasmussen both of Winlaw, BC; brother Dan Lind and sister-in-law Sylvia (Paul) Lind of Abbotsford, BC and many other extended family and friends.

 

Randie was predeceased by her first husband Ivan Freeman and parents, Raymond (1996) and Dorothy Lind (1998) both living to 88 years of age.

 

“Life is a Bicycle”

By Randie Lind

Published in Elbow Valley Cycle Club’s ‘Cadence’ Newsletter, April 1993

 

Bicycle- two wheels

Wheels within wheels,

dreams within schemes within dreams.

 

Spinning out.

Cycle and recycle - hope springs eternal.

Change gears, get in gear -

change and changes,

crossroads and turning points.

 

Ah, life- easy-riding?

Free-wheeling, high-flying, free-fall

    Crash-landing.

Pick up the pieces, tighten connections.

Pathways and passages - Rites of passage.

Don't panic!

Keep the rhythm, keep the faith.

Balance - even cadence.

 

Clean the chain, check the brakes.

    (Chains? Break free?)

New links - only connect.

 

Watch the signs, Up/Down

    Beginning/Ending

Hard-travelling; Easy-riding; Balance

Against the wind - head down, hold on

Keep moving.

 

Condolences, memories and photos may be shared and viewed on Randie’s obituary at www.McInnisandHolloway.com. In addition, Randie’s verifiable friends and family members may request receipt of an invitation from Jeff to join Randie’s CaringBridge (CB) website detailing Randie’s health journey with journal entries, comments, tributes and photos. Request Jeff’s email from one of Randie’s or my friends or our family members. ‘By invitation only’ is at Randie’s request to protect her privacy. The CB website is our shared love story about Randie. 

 

The family would like to extend a thank you to AB Health Services’ Calgary Region’s Palliative Home Care Team; Dulcina Hospice Staff; Jane Austen Society of North America, Calgary Chapter and Randie’s family, many friends and supporters.

 

In living memory of Randie Lind, a tree will be planted in the Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area by McINNIS & HOLLOWAY FUNERAL HOMES, Chapel of the Bells, 2720 CENTRE STREET NORTH, CALGARY, AB T2E 2V6, Telephone: 403-243-8200.