Obituary of Doreen Odelia Hindle

 

July 20, 1937 - Athabasca, Alberta

January 26, 2023 - Calgary, Alberta

 

We share our profound loss of Doreen Odelia Hindle (née Stelter), wife of Warren for 64 years, mother of four, grandmother of eight, and great-grandmother of three. Doreen died in the early hours of January 26, 2023, at Agapé Hospice in Calgary, with her family by her side. Her beauty was exceeded by great intellect, meticulous attention to detail in any endeavor, particularly in devotion to her family, and kindness to all she met.

 

Doreen was the third child but first to be born in a hospital at Athabasca, Alberta. She is survived by her four siblings, Irma Mackie, Cliff Stelter, Bob Stelter (Dee) and Diane Beale and was predeceased by her parents, Reinhart Stelter (born in Novgorod, Russia, died in June 1988) and Hilda Stelter (née Sloboda, born in Beausejour, Manitoba, died in July 2001).

 

Having lived on her parents’ homestead and unaware of the poverty of the 1930’s, she first remembered living near one of her father’s sawmills at Grassy Lake, north of Athabasca. Surrounded by extended family and others employed by her father’s company, she described her childhood as “wonderful, free and adventurous.” She loved the outdoors, trees and could seldom avoid picking wild flowers wherever she spotted them along highways or trails. She loved the beauty and design of seashells, pebbles and decorated Easter eggs leaving a substantial collection.

The work ethics of her parents were transferred to her from a young age. She and brother Cliff braved bitter cold walks (at times exceeding minus 40 degrees Celsius) “over two miles, uphill both ways”, to arrive early at a one-room schoolhouse built with her father’s lumber, where they were responsible to light the pot-bellied stove and perform other housekeeping duties.

 

When Doreen was eleven her family moved to Athabasca to enable the children’s education, where she excelled in academics, skipped grades twice, was creative in art and writing and became the editor of her school newspaper. She was athletic, played many sports and once beat her brother Cliff in a local bonspiel, to his dismay. 

 

After graduation, Doreen attended the University of Alberta School of Nursing and became a Registered Nurse in September 1957. Noticed for her skill in the operating room she was selected, while still a nursing student, as one of the scrub nurses at the first successful open-heart surgery performed in Canada by the team of Dr. John Callaghan in 1956.

 

Doreen met Warren while on vacation in 1956 with five of her nursing classmates at Kenosee Lake, Sasketchewan. Warren was one of four male University of Saskatchewan students working on pipelines who moved into the cabin next to the nurses and with the addition of two U of S students working on a nearby farm, proposed all should go to a local barn dance. Aware of obvious interest in the blue-eyed beauty, Warren picked Doreen up in his arms and carried her to one of the cars, effectively countering any competition. They married at Athabasca in April 1958 and Doreen worked as an operating room nurse at Saskatoon City Hospital, providing resources as Warren completed his degree in medicine at the University of Saskatchewan. Dr. Bart Jackson, Chief of Surgery at SCH, upon first meeting Warren, asked, “Hindle, are you related to Mrs. Hindle in our operating room?” Upon affirmation Dr. Jackson said, “If you are half as good you can stay.”

Their first child, Christine Leonard (Yves), was born in May 1963, two days after Warren’s convocation, at which point by mutual agreement, Doreen began her full-time career as mother and homemaker. A year interning at the Grace Hospitals in Detroit, three more learning ophthalmic surgery in Chicago where two more children were born, Jeffrey (Barb) in March 1965, and Stuart (Erika) in August 1966, and an additional year of training in pediatric ophthalmology at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto were completed in September 1968, followed by a move to Calgary and a positive cash flow. A fourth child, Jennifer Craig (Matt), was born in August 1973. They lived in a wonderful home in Lakeview Village, backing Glenmore Park, for three decades.

 

Throughout and beyond the children’s departure from home, Doreen continued her devoted support to her family, ensuring they were nourished and safe while stimulated to thrive in every way. In addition to homemaking and child rearing, she revealed equal talents in tending the gardens and particularly flowers that she adored. Her values were a constant example to her children, including abhorrence of a job poorly done.

 

When an empty nester, Doreen extended love to her children and grandchildren spread over the world. No birthday or Christmas would pass without her sending a card with the perfect message (cheque included). Christine and Yves Leonard are grateful for the many care-packages Doreen sent filled with carefully selected items for each member of their family of three children (Natalie, Rachel and Katherine) during their 25 years in Cameroon creating a written language for the Baka people. The spouses of Doreen’s children were touched by her love – one, a new mother, who cried when Doreen returned home after caring so wonderfully for another newborn grandchild.

 

Her grandchildren closer to home: Jeff’s son Sawyer; Erika and Stuart’s Carter and Julia; and Matthew and Jennifer’s Jonah and Emily, had more frequent exposure to the mutual love and endearment of their grandma Hindle. Only the last two without university degrees, age 9 and 14, are still collecting their birthday gratuity.

 

Doreen went to many places with touring of adjacent areas to where Warren had professional meetings, including Ireland and many US and Canadian major cities or resort areas, as well as Kiawa Island, Hawaii and the Monterey Peninsula. She shot at cactus with a pistol with a group of ophthalmologist’s spouses in the desert outside Phoenix. While in New York for three days, in 1967, her first trip away from her three children, she scrounged tickets after walking from the Taft Hotel to the box offices for the Broadway musicals, Fiddler on the Roof and Cabaret.

 

Elsewise it was mainly family visits. She enjoyed meeting with the Calgary Medical Wives and curling with many of the same. Men’s Medical curling – local, annual provincial and Canadian Medical bonspiels provided great social breaks, collected a legion of friends over thirty and more years, some gone but many still with us to the present. She was also the usual song leader on many social occasions, with a great mezzo-soprano voice, great recall particularly for ribald fraternity and Broadway musical songs. Believe it or not - she danced better than she could sing.

 

Doreen’s Shangri-La was at Mara Lake in BC – a treasured vacation spot for over 40 summers. “The Lake” provided her with a special community of friends and welcomed opportunities to reunite with family.

 

On Warren’s retirement from active practice, in 2000, they sold the home, bought a condo and spent several winters at White Rock and Tsawwassen in British Columbia, both overlooking the marvelous Boundary Bay, thinking of moving there but never overcoming the pull of the blue skies, family and long term friends in Calgary.

 

An enthusiast of everything beautiful, intriguing, and true is evidenced by her collections of “treasures”, dolls, Ukrainian Easter eggs, Christmas ornaments, seashells, books and even pebbles and newspaper articles. A life-long learner and well-read in many topics, politics and religion among her favorites, she shared, willingly with insight and vigor, discussion with family and friends. In her last completed project she produced scrapbooks of her most interesting newspaper clippings over decades, for her grandchildren.

 

Doreen had a wonderful sense of humor. Albeit accidental, one of her best lines was, “I am not firing on all syllables today”. Her sense of humor prevailed even after four months of unusual symptoms were diagnosed as from advanced lung cancer in February of 2022. Her smile and wit appeared at the most unexpected times throughout her illness, captivating any that were exposed to it and misleading her doctors and family often to underestimate her perilous state and degree of discomfort. Sustained by her trust in God, she demonstrated great courage and strength throughout her months in hospitals and hospice. She invariably welcomed others with that smile and brought laughter to those around her.  She cared for those caring for her, keeping record of many from whence they came and did anything for her, whether medical staff, cleaning, food service, maintenance or whatever, and was particularly enchanted with those who filled the bird feeder on the window to her room at the Agape Hospice.

 

Readers would think that Doreen was perfect and accordingly different from all, perhaps saintly in this writer’s mind. After nearly 65 years of married life none should think there were no trials and tribulations. Doreen and Warren persisted and prevailed, in love to the end.

 

In the last days of hospice care, Doreen enjoyed listening to her favorite musical - The Sound of Music. The day before her passing, when a family member asked her for last words of advice, she smiled, and with some effort said, “Climb…every…mountain!”, to which came the reply, “Yes, …and ford every stream, follow every rainbow, ‘til you find your dreams!”

 

Shortly before her passing when asked by one of her many attending doctors “Is there anything else bothering you?” – she replied, “Yes, I am dying.” And she smiled.

 

Her suffering now over, we trust she is experiencing the promised fullness of joy, reunited with passed family, friends, and her Lord whom she loved. Her spirit lives on, etched in the hearts and minds of those who were privileged to share in her life.

 

Doreen’s family is very grateful for the care provided to her at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre, the Agapé Hospice, the Peter Lougheed Hospital and The Outpatient Palliative Care programs.

 

Many organizations with political, religious, or ethical and moral orientation will miss her generosity. Please consider donating to any of your choice.

 

A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, April 1, 2023 at 2:00p.m. Any are invited to join Doreen Hindle’s service streamed live on the day of the service. Signing in now on the link https://evt.live/doreen-hindle will enable notice to you of change and access at a later date. Condolences, memories, and photos can be shared and viewed here.

 

In living memory of Doreen Hindle, a tree will be planted in the Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area by McInnis & Holloway Funeral Homes, Park Memorial, 5008 Elbow Drive SW, Calgary, AB T2S 2L5, Telephone: 403-243-8200.