Obituary of Beryl Anne Stewart MILLAR

Beryl Anne Millar of Calgary, AB, passed away on Sunday, July 16, 2017 at the age of 88 years. Beryl was born on a dairy farm in Sturgeon Creek, Winnipeg on January 15, 1929. She loved all the farm animals and often followed her father in the barns. She was a sturdy, healthy person all of her life and could harness a team of horses when necessary. Beryl loved her dogs and had several over her long life who went rambling with her everywhere. When Dad went overseas in 1940, Bob was one year old, Beryl was almost 11, and Lois and Lorraine were 8 plus. They had spent one winter on the farm during which Mom handled a large chimney fire and scared off a thief near the barn by firing off the 303 rifle as he was running away over the old bridge. She said she got so mad to think of such a person having that much gall to think she was just a defenseless woman. Bob was toddling around with his bottle one late evening and fell hard on the wooden floor. He cut his eyebrow so deeply that the skin fell over and covered his eye and there was blood everywhere. We thought he had lost his eye and Mom got Beryl to hitch up the horse to the toboggan and fetch our nearest neighbour, Grandma Connell, two miles away on a winter road. Meanwhile, Bob was screaming and it was very frightening. Grandma Connell was a nurse in the First World War so without any anaesthetic she boiled a needle and gut and sewed him up. Beryl and Lorraine held him down. While his head was down, Beryl leaned on the rest of him; the whole event leaving Bob with a scar as a memento above his eye. It must have taken every inch of Beryl's young strength to harness and hitch up a horse in that cold, but she did it. She was our protector in the schoolyard at Craig Siding as some of the older boys could be rough. She used to slide down the gravel pit, and slide right into and over them. Beryl was engaged to be married in 1966. There were wedding showers and gifts coming to the house and Beryl said, "No, I'm too bossy and ‘deter-minded' as Grandfather Robert Millar used to say," so she cancelled everything and sent all the gifts back. That took guts because in 1967, you went through with what everyone wanted you to do - come hell or high water. Beryl graduated from Dominion Business College in Winnipeg and worked for the Royal Bank before moving to Calgary to work for French Petroleum. She volunteered for the Reform Party and Conservative Party for many years, as well as Meals on Wheels for 20 years, and for 17 years with the Calgary Police Department with a special role as security for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. She was a dedicated delivery person and knew her customers' needs well. Beryl purchased a motor home after retiring and traveled the mountains and down into the United States with friends and family. She also traveled to Africa, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and most of Eastern Canada all while she was trying to figure out how to live on $60.00 per week, way back then. Often spending time in her later years, at Bob's Home at Kamineskeg or the Kings at Wolf Lake. Beryl was an avid stock market watcher, and was very shrewd at making and saving money from it. As a matter of fact, she helped a cousin buy her first car from money made from market stocks. Also, Beryl was the first person I knew to throw all the store-bought vegetables and fruit into the sink with soapy water and now we all do it! Such a journey, eh! And more to come as "Beryl did it her way". A Memorial Service will be held at HERITAGE FUNERAL HOME, 1708 - 16th Avenue N.W. (across from the North Hill Shopping Centre, Calgary) on Wednesday, August 30, 2017 at 2:00p.m. Reception to follow at the funeral home. Please forward condolences through www.hffs.com. If friends so desire, memorial tributes may be made directly to The Calgary Humane Society, 4455 - 110th Avenue S.E., Calgary, AB T2C 2T7, Telephone: (403)205-4455, www.calgaryhumane.ca. The family would like to thank the staff of Millrise Place and AgeCare Seton for their kindness and care. Memorial Service Wednesday, August 30, 2017 02:00 PM Heritage Funeral Home 1708 - 16 Avenue NW Calgary,AB