The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
MARION DOROTHY PARRES "Billie" May 17, 1914 - August 1, 2007 "Billie" passed away peacefully on Wednesday, August 1, 2007 at the Northern Lights Manor, Flin Flon, Manitoba. Cremation took place and a memorial service was held August 10, 2007 at Northminster Memorial United Church. THE PEOPLE WE LOVE LIVE ON IN OUR HEARTS; TODAY WE CELEBRATE OUR LOVE FOR BILLIE. The Reverend Gregory Parker presided with the Reverend Ina Golaiy co-presider. Following the service and lunch, committal took place at Ross Park Cemetery. Reverend Parker said at the committal "Billie and Lew were together 74 years. As they shared virtually all of their lives together, it is right and fitting that they should finally rest together always. It is a perfect place, with the rock that was fundamental to their lives surrounding and protecting them, in God's arms." Dadson Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements. A small service was held at the Northern Lights Manor in memory of Billie and Lew so that the many friends at the Manor could have closure. Jim, Bev. and Brenda along with family members shared time and song with the residents and the following prayer: Lord God, look kindly upon us in our sorrow for this life taken from us, and gather our pain into your peace. Heal our memories, be present to our grieving, and overcome all our doubts. Awaken our gratitude for all your good gifts of love and tenderness. As we are able to receive them, teach us the lessons of life that can be learned in death. We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen. Billie was predeceased by the Love of Her Life, her husband "Lew", on December 10, 2004; by her parents Barbara and John Cross, brother Jack and wife Mickie Cross, brother-in-law Jim and wife Dee Parres, sister-in-law Henrietta and husband Herb Jamieson. Billie is survived by her son James (Audrey) Parres, daughters Beverley (Lyle) Borgstrom and Brenda (Terry) Parres-Brown; seven grandchildren (and 17 great grandchildren) - Brent (Tiffany) Parres and son Logan of Thunder Bay, ON; Heather (Keith) Parres-Holliday and daughters Triesta and Parres of Canmore, AB; Dallas (Kelly) Labrecque and children Dustin, Veronica and Alanna of Rycroft, AB; Suzanne (Len) Wilkinson and children Andrew, Arizona, Landon and Statten of Steinbach, MB; Kristina (Joe) Lies and children Madelyn, Anna, Justin and Joseph of Flin Flon, MB; Jayme (Jeremy) Ernst and children Shye, Brett and Zoe of Red Deer, AB; and Mia Parres-Brown of Toronto, ON. Also her brother Raymond Crosse (Margaret) of Niagara on the Lake, Ontario, many nieces and nephews (and her sister Marie Robertson of Vancouver, BC just passed away at 95 on November 9, 2007). Family friend of many years who knew Billie and Lew well in their Eastern connection in Toronto and dear friend of my sister Brenda, Maggie Bentley, shared the following with the family and many Eastern friends: Billie Parres passed on peacefully in Flin Flon, Manitoba in the early hours of this morning, 1 August, 2007, after an extended illness. Billie was a woman of great substance, loved and admired for a lifetime, a prospector's devoted wife and partner, mother of three amazing people who have forged unique paths in their lives, grandmother and great grandmother to a collection of beautiful people and confidante and mentor to many fortunate friends. Billie provided all of us with encouragement, love, insights and a sense of what is important in this life. She was there to lead the way quietly and stand in honour of every little accomplishment. She forged the way as the pioneer wife of a determined, charismatic prospector, and was honoured for her work in the Canadian north. Billie inspired and celebrated each person she met. She leaves a wealth of great joy and fond memories in her wake. Maggie also came from Kingston, ON to Flin Flon to share with us all our time of goodbye. It was a beautiful service for Mom...amazingly each person that shared captured the same feelings of love and gratitude and respect that Billie's family felt - weaving a circle of mutual love for a very special person...Granddaughter Mia Parres-Brown was unable to come for the service as she was in England attending school but earlier in the summer she had come to Flin Flon and always stayed at the cabin - there she wrote the following and had shared it with Mom before leaving - Mia's mom, Brenda, shared these beautiful feelings with us at the memorial service... "Isn't she the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?" Grandpa said to us about you. Canada Day. You sitting in your chair with your sun hat on waiting to go to the parade. My Nanny. Sweet Nanny. Here (my heart) is my heart. Here is the only place in the world I want to be. When I'm not, here (in my heart) is where this place is. My sweet Nanny. Beside you. Here (in my mind) echoes your laughter. Your voice. Graceful. Soft. Here. We sing together. Our voices, together. "You are my Sunshine" You. Are my sunshine. These moments as a family. So many I couldn't tell you where One begins and one ends. With family Who I am because of you I can't tell where you begin And I end. We are here. We are in your heart. We are in your mind. Our hearts. Our minds. At the lake. The Cabin. Moose Point. Just yesterday. Grandpa was there. We arrived to a hail covered cabin. He put little drops there As little white, perfect fleeting moments. He kissed each one and sprinkled them down. Grandpa Lew, He stretched a dark cloud over Moose Point. Lightning flew from cloud to cloud, not loud But Bright. I could hear his whisper. "It's beautiful, It is all right." All around the edges of this dark cloud, Was Light. And at ten at night, Grandpa Lew made the sun shine. "The beginning of a new day, even when the sun sets" He whispered. Then he sent a Loon, Who paused to rest on the "P" of Moose Point. Connecting us to the Parres name. Proud. The Loon sat and waited. "I am here," he whispered, "And I will wait." There are no words for this chance. This moment. Here. Our eyes meet. I see you. I see you in me. In my auntie Bev. My uncle Jim. I see you in my mum. Brenda. Sweet Brenda. I see you in a warm cup of tea. A Scrabble match with Mum. When Uncle Jim plays his guitar. When Auntie Bev gives me a squeeze. I want you to know When I'm not here You are always with me. You are everything violet, The way my mum sips her tea. You are in my dreams. Dancing around at 1-2-9 Green Street. You are singing with your beautiful voice. You are smiling. Your eyes. Your hands. Your smell. Your skin. Your hair. Your smile. You. Your poise. Your strength. Your kindness. Your patience. Your everything. Let's hold hands again. A sunny day that will never end. Grandpa Lew whispers...to you. Billie, here is my heart. With you is the only place I want to be. When I'm not, I'll wait for you in my heart. Here we sing together. Billie "You are my Sunshine" Until the next time our eyes meet again. I will cherish all of our sunny days. Nannie, "You are my Sunshine" "I love you more than you'll ever know" The Words of Remembrance were given by Billie's son, Jim - he captured the mutual feelings of Brenda and I - and found the strength to deliver his message - please enjoy the story of our mom... Our mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, was born Marion Dorothy Cross in Saskatoon on May 17, 1914. Her father was John Reginald Cross from Brightlingsea, England. Her mother was Barbara Annie MacKenzie, a pure Scottish lass born in P.E.I. of emigrant parents from Old Shore More in the Northwest of Scotland near Cape Wrath. She had one older sister, Marie (now 95), and two younger brothers, Jack (deceased) and Ray, 89 years old. There was an older half-brother back in P.E.I. by the name of Billie MacKenzie and it's possible that is where my mother got her nickname. She never knew where it came from. She was always Billie. She only met her half brother Billie once. My mother and her siblings revered their mother, Barbara Annie, who kept the family together. Mom went to school in Saskatoon during some tough times for the Cross family but she excelled in her academics and was awarded the Governor General's medal for proficiency. She worked as a secretary to the Superintendent of the City Hospital as well as the Board of Governors in Saskatoon for eight years and loved her job. She was able to help support her family with her earnings. Her secretarial skills came in handy in her later career as well. It was during this period of time that she met Lew Parres, after a horseshoe tournament. He had forgotten his jacket and when he came back to retrieve it, he noticed the attractive young lady and asked her for a date. She replied that if he could spell her name correctly, she would go out with him. Fortunately for us all, Lew passed the test and thus began a nine year courtship, punctuated by Lew's geology trips to the Northlands and his university studies. Once Lew got a steady job at the Coniaurum Mine in Timmins, Ontario, he asked the light of his life to marry him. The date was set for May 2, 1939, in Montreal. Montreal was chosen as Lew's brother Jim was to be the best man and he was working at the Thetford Mines in Southern Quebec. On September 8, 1941, Mom gave birth to an 8 pound baby boy at South Porcupine General Hospital. My Uncle Jim insisted I be named after him. Then while Lew was stationed with the RCAF, Beverley was born on September 22, 1944 at Galt which is now Cambridge, Ontario. At the end of the war HBED said they had a job for Lew in geology so the Parres family moved to Flin Flon in 1945. We stayed on Boam Street in Ross Lake for several months and then Lew bought Billie a nice house at 19 Church Street in the uptown area, so she could be close to the stores. This was a handy location except for the smelter smoke problem in those days. Our family spent a lot of the summertime at Phantom Lake (thank you HBM&S) picnicking, swimming. Billie and Lew enjoyed playing tennis doubles. After Brenda arrived in 1950, we needed a bigger house so it was off to Mile 84 where we had a great house at 129 Green Street until 2003 when it was sold to the high school and demolished, to make a larger parking lot for the school. If Billie had been busy before, when we lived uptown, with the United Church, Cubs, Brownies, music lessons, hockey, summer programs, now she was really busy. Lew was away for months at a time, so she was both mom and dad. By now I was in Scouts, playing hockey, camping, canoeing, Bev was in Guides, basketball, etc., and Brenda was just starting kindergarten in Mrs. Maximchuk's class. Billie's famous cream puffs were a highly anticipated part of our Sunday meal. Billie and Brenda practiced baking together and Brenda won a Red Rose Flour bake-off in Winnipeg as an early teen. A special Sunday tradition was for us kids to make breakfast if our dad was home and then serve it to our parents in bed or our dad assigned us all jobs and made a super duper omelette which we all enjoyed. During the week Mom's hearty homemade cream corn soup with cucumber and tomato sandwiches was a big favourite for lunch. When I look back on my mom's life, it is amazing. She was an ardent member of the Home and School Association and on a committee for the furtherance of apprenticeship courses and more informed knowledge of jobs in the mining industry. She taught Sunday School and was a member of the United Church Women's Group. She served on the Girl Guide Council. She worked on a committee to bring quality movies for the children to the local theatres. Bridge Club was a special event she enjoyed in her free time. She made cream puffs to serve to the ladies in the Bridge Club and we kids always anticipated those occasions as we would usually get to enjoy some of the dainties as well. In 1964 her life was uprooted in Flin Flon when Lew opened an office in Timmins and they moved there during the Texas Gulf Sulphur mining rush. Billie assisted with recording claims and subsequent assessment work and kept the property records. In 1967 it was back to Flin Flon except for Brenda who stayed on in South Porcupine briefly to finish her high school. Mom played on a curling team with our next door neighbour Eleanor Reitlo. She answered calls at the Crisis Centre and made the motion in 1991 to form an Inner Wheel Club in Flin Flon. Billie and Bev are one of several mother-daughter pairs of Inner Wheel in Flin Flon. They prided themselves on being part of this organization and the family thank you for your turnout today to honour Billie Parres. Billie usually travelled to the CIMM and Prospectors & Developers Conventions with Lew and was an ambassador extraordinnaire to the mining industry. She was always well read and up to date on current mining activities. In later life she kept Lew's claim records. This was a huge job and she also did his secretarial work as well as providing support and encouragement on all his many and varied mining projects. In 1993 Billie had a stroke which curtailed daily work. She rebounded and continued to have an active interest in all facets of the business for a few more years. In 1995 she was selected as the recipient of the Sancta Barbara Order of Merit, presented annually by the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. The award recognizes the important role played by women in the progressive development of Canadian Mining Communities and the Industry. Billie was very deserving of the award and was greatly honoured to receive it. In 2004 Billie and Lew celebrated their 65th Wedding Anniversary. If you add the nine years of courtship it makes for 74 years of devotion between Dad and Mom. Our mother enjoyed a long and varied life and she and my dad travelled to many interesting places including Hawaii, Disney World in Florida, New York, Toronto, Nevada, Texas, Vancouver, Scotland, England, Ireland and of course Snow Lake. Her grace, dignity and good humour influenced her children and grandchildren as well as all who met her. I still quite often wear a T-shirt under my shirts, always dry between my toes and incessantly clip articles from newspapers, all things I learned or inherited from my mother. Over the last 12 years or so, my wife and I did our family genealogy and we made it a point to travel to all the places our ancestors were from. Probably one of the most beautiful places we ever visited was Old Shore More in Scotland where Billie's grandmother and grandfather were from. That could explain in part why Billie was such a beautiful person in spirit and body. Her total lifetime of dedication to the well being and development of her family created a wonderful feeling of love within this family. We thank you Mother. SPECIAL THANKS TO: Reverend Greg Parker and Reverend Ina Golaiy for the beautiful memorial service and special patience and understanding at the committal service - you gave the family great comfort and peace in your help and words. To Greg Foord for sharing the ministry of song as he sang "He Touched Me" - Greg and his family the Foords of Snow Lake have a long history with our family (they even live on Parres Avenue in Snow Lake) and we have been blessed with their friendship. Mrs. Foord (Julianna) lives at the Manor and was very caring of Mom and Dad and held them in prayer as did she comfort me many times. To Adell Lofgren at the Manor who herself was very ill at the time of Mom passing but now is doing very well - thank you for your friendship with Mom and many visits and sharing of news and good humour... To neighbour Eleanor Reitlo at the Manor (also a neighbour on Green Street since about 1955) for your caring and kindnesses over the years... To the Inner Wheel Ladies of Rotary for your presence and honour guard at the service - Mom would have appreciated this very much as did we... To our memorial attendants, my dear friends Audrey Mager and Fran Labarre, for your friendship and help. To sons-in-law Joe Lies and Len Wilkinson for being ushers - great job fellows and very appreciated. To the ladies of Northminster United and St. Andrew's Presbyterian churches for the very delicious lunch and complying with my request for strawberry shortcake (Billie's favourite and the family's too) - you did a wonderful job and it was so appreciated. To Mark Kolt for your wonderful music - how special you are to the community with your talents - thank you. To Jim for sharing The Last Mile of the Way - you do a great number on that song... To Dana, Darren and Bayley - special folk that offer such compassion, understanding, respect and help at a difficult time - we thank you so much for being there for us... To the Lions Handi-Van and the drivers - Mom so enjoyed the outings and you always accommodated us and helped make the trips pleasurable - thank you. To the doctors: Clayden, Van, Blom and Susan Iskander - thank you. To the physical therapists, occupational therapists and Medi-Chair - thank you. To the nurses in the Flin Flon Hospital over the years - thank you. To Karen Leifso and Carol Craig - Mom's original nurses - you gave Mom the courage to battle her stroke and make the most of her circumstances. To those that made donations in Billie's memory - thank you so very much. To the many friends and relatives who supported us in prayer, cards, e-mails, kind words, hugs, baking, flowers and friendship - we thank you... To the Homecare folk for many years and all the staff at the Northern Lights Manor for five years - thank you can never be enough - God bless you all. To the grandchildren - over the years you each had your memories with Nanny and Grampa - you knew them in different times and different ways - I know that they loved you very much and were always interested to hear your news and enjoyed the many great grandchildren you gave them and many moments of visiting that were shared with you. Thank you for visiting, for caring, for pictures and special moments shared and individual efforts for anniversaries, scrapbooks, music, phone calls, writing and much more - just being at the Manor, talking, touch, hugs, song and laughter, sharing news - it all meant so much to them... LOVE IS THE LEGACY OF LIFE When a life has been lived, its true measure is love. The love of family, friends, and the love of life itself. A lifetime is but a brief moment in eternity. We are born into this world. We live. We learn. We leave. The love we share remains in the hearts of those we love forever. Love is the legacy of life. Love Lasts Forever
