Willa DAVIES

Obituary of Willa Eileen DAVIES

 

September 2, 1926 - Lloydminster, Saskatchewan
February 6, 2021 – Calgary, Alberta

Willa Eileen Davies passed away peacefully in her home at Whitehorn Village, Calgary, AB, on Saturday, February 6, 2021at the age of 94.

Willa was born to William and Kathleen Davies at Lloydminster, Alberta on September 2, 1926, and was the youngest sister to George, Jack, Margaret (McQueen), Dorothy (Freund), Ann (Scheuerman) and Bill.  She spent her youth on the family farm in the Durness District where she attended this one-room school.  After graduating from high school in Fort Saskatchewan where she lived with an aunt. Willa began her long career in the nursing profession when she received her RN from the Calgary General Hospital in 1949. She began as a general duty nurse practicing in Calgary and Victoria and embarking on a very adventurous stint in London, England. Later she attended McGill University, Montreal and earned a Bachelor of Nursing majoring in Public and Community Health in 1969.  With this newly minted degree she practiced in the field on the West Coast and Vancouver Island eventually becoming Supervisor of Public Health for North Vancouver Island. She retired to Victoria in 1986, buying her first home and becoming an avid gardener.

As years passed, Willa returned to Alberta to be closer to family and enjoyed several years bringing joy, love and good humour to them and all the caregivers whom she embraced and who loved her back.

With quiet enthusiasm, Willa was a well-seasoned traveler beginning in the fifties with a trip to Europe long before others threw on their backpacks and headed out.  Elder hostel knew her well as she pursued her love of lifelong learning with travel; a true road scholar journeying to places as far flung as China, Tibet, Turkey and Pangnirtung, Baffin Island.  Art and culture were valued, and Willa completed a Certificate in Fine Art through University of Victoria Extension in 2001. She lived her life well, accepting what came her way and finding most things quite lovely. With little fuss and palaver, Willa followed her bliss. 

Auntie Willa, as she was lovingly known to her sixteen nieces and nephews, their spouses and her many great nieces and nephews, will be remembered for her generosity and support: opening her home, arms, and heart to all. Plus, their friends, who became her friends, and other “strays” whom she took under her wing as if they were her own, and her west coast Buck cousins: Bill of Vancouver, Frances, and Jeff of Victoria.  All will reflect on Willa’s unassuming presence with great fondness.

Rejoicing in having had Willa in their lives for so long are her nieces and nephews and their families; Donna Davies Rawlake, Cecile Davies McCleary, David Davies, Richie Davies, Karen Davies Teeling, Barb McQueen Emerson, Jean McQueen Sherwin, Kathy Davies, Wendy Freund Summerfield, Judy Scheuerman Evans, Bill Scheuerman, Lynn Davies Romaine, Joanne Davies DeForest, Brent Davies and Scott Davies.  Her dear niece and “pal” Tannis Scheuerman Getty predeceased her in 2019.

A celebration of Willa’s long life will be held at a later date at St. Luke’s Northminster, Anglican Church, Lloydminster, where she will be interred where her parents and her three oldest siblings rest.

Condolences, memories and photos may be shared and viewed on Willa’s obituary at www.McInnisandHolloway.com.

In living memory of Willa Davies, a tree will be planted in the Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area by McInnis & Holloway Funeral Homes, Eastside, 5388 Memorial Drive NE, Calgary, AB T2A 3V9, Telephone: 403-248-8585.
 

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