Monday, March 25, 2019
Spoke at her service on March 16, 2019:
Want to thank everyone for coming today. Thank you to the gals who organized, and are serving the food today, we really appreciate it. For those of you who don’t know me, I am Margarite's Granddaughter Jana Bartsch. Grandma Margarite always called me her favorite Granddaughter, as I was her only Granddaughter.
Grandma Margarite would have loved this. Everyone getting together to tell some stories. Grandma’s sons and grandsons (Neil, Ian, Keith, Jim and Billy) were really chomping at the bit to be up here with me today. As they all really enjoy public speaking **sarcasm**.
Margarite Nesjie Godkin (maiden name Vooys). She made it 96 years and 124 days. Now that is something worth celebrating. Round of applause for that. (Clap). 3 of her 4 brothers and both her parents made it to their late 80’s to mid 90’s. And there are quite a few Vooys’ here today. That means a lot of us are going to be around a long time. Scary thought, I know.
Grandma was a story teller. Loved talking and reminiscing. When you called or visited you made sure your schedule was free for hours. She wasn’t your typical Grandma. She wasn’t this sweet little old lady that knit you sweaters and always had fresh cookies for you when you come over. She had bought cookies and always had mints and Werther’s candies around. That was cool. No she was more of a friend than a Grandma to me. I could swear around her and not get in trouble. It was great. We would exchange our funny and inappropriate stories, both from our youth. When she was young and going out to dances in Lomond, she’d make sure she ate a lot of potatoes and bread for supper before she went out. Grandpa Vooys, while she was pigging out on mashed potatoes, would look at her over his round glasses that were on the end of his nose and say, “You going dancing tonight girl?” In her older years she always had at least one drink (usually a vodka 7) on New Year’s Day and her birthday. If fact she had several drinks at her 95th birthday. She also kept a bottle of Amaretto in her room at the nursing home. She said she’d just take a sip straight out of the bottle once and a while. I always wondered what the nursing staff would think if they caught her doing that!
She talked fondly and had tons of stories of her friends and family, especially her best friend Hazel Beagle, her parents (Arie & Margarite) and brothers (Arie, Leonard, Raymond & Gilbert). Lots of stories of where she grew up on the original Vooys farmstead. In November 1928, when she was 6 years old there was a terrible grass fire that started by the rail road in Pageant by lake McGregor and then headed east fast. The wind was howling that day. Even in her 90’s she could close her eyes and still see that glow and wall of fire coming over the hills. Her father and brothers had taken off to fight the fire. Which left Grandma Vooys running around the farm hooking up the wagon and letting out the animals, all the while little Margarite holding onto her skirt. Luckily the ones fighting the fire were able to divert the fire around the Vooys farm but the fire still continued on until it hit the river.
My personal favourite story was when Grandpa Stan’s friends and neighbors Bill Beckner and Jim Prentice. Grandpa’s buddies wanted to go out for the weekend and Grandpa said no because they weren’t quite done combining yet. So Bill and Jim went out and wet down the swath in front of the combine. Grandpa went out to test the wheat. Oh it’s too tough, I can go now, and off they went. I think they told Grandpa Sunday afternoon what they had done.
She loved her family so much both past and present. And loved her extended family too (even you Leigh). She wanted to know how everyone was doing and what they were up to. Had lots of stories about her 3 boys and their friends. She chose the names Neil, Ian and Keith for her boys so no one would shorten their names. As she actually didn’t like her shortened name Maggie, even though everyone in Lomond called her that. So she thought the names Neil, Ian and Keith were safe. Then they still called themselves Nee, Eee and Kee anyway. Drove her nuts. One day she was at the Milo Grocery store, Keith was just a baby, Ian and Neil were in the car. She was talking to the store owner Joe Thompson when they both noticed that the car door was open. All of a sudden there were two little streams coming out past the door. Apparently the boys had to pee. Oh and she said she even banned the Beckner boys off the farm for a while, after she caught them all playing with matches in the fuel shed. Even after being banned she’d still catch John and Peter trying to sneak on the farm. At least the playing with the matches worked out better than them playing in the 15 gallon grease barrel.
She loved animals and her pets, especially her horses, still remembered their names. Only person we know that found a Meadowlark nest. She watched and followed that bird persistently until she found the nest. Neil remembers one day she come back home from riding her horse and was soaking wet. It took him days to get the truth out of her. But she had taken her horse out into the middle of a slough so she could get a closer look at the little ducklings that were swimming around. The ducklings swam under the horse’s belly which resulted in Grandma being thrown into the water.
And she loved going out to eat, in restaurants, often ordering lasagna, and never let you pay. You had to be quick to get the bill first. She loved her crafts and miniatures. But wouldn’t let us touch them when Jim, Billy and I were kids. I remember thinking it wasn’t fair, she made all these things just my size, perfect for my little hands, but I wasn’t allowed to touch. She must have lightened up by her great-grand children because they were allowed to touch her miniatures. No fair. She and Grandpa Stan did eventually make me a kid friendly doll house. You could stand on the thing it was so strong.
Never had a speeding ticket. And it wasn’t from lack of trying. She was still driving well into her 80’s and was literally trying to get a speeding ticket just to say she got one, and they still never caught her. I think she just liked seeing the guys in uniform. As she called the ambulance quite a few times and always bragged how good looking the paramedics were.
She didn’t like the nursing homes. She kept saying there are too many old people here. She was so young at heart. Didn’t have the heart to tell her she was the second oldest one at Sagewood.
Grandma was quite surprised that she had beaten Brother Gilbert. As he only lived to be 95 years old. She told me last spring, she just wanted to be around long enough to make Billy and Dani’s wedding. And she made it there with flying colours and even got to meet her last great-grand child William, son of Jim and Amy’s a few weeks before she passed. So perfect if you ask me.
So everyone grab a drink and raise a glass, to one heck of a lady. To Margarite Godkin.
