With great sadness we announce the passing of Grace Waine, peacefully in her sleep, on May 12th, 2020.
Grace was born in Hull, East Yorkshire, England on September 28, 1920 to Frederick and Elizabeth Collins, working class parents. She had two younger sisters: Irene who died in 1927 and Eileen who died in 2009. She left school (Hull College of Commerce) at age 14 having been near the top of her class each year. Her parents paid for piano lessons from an early age, and she became very proficient on both the piano and the accordion. She put her musical talents to good use throughout her life. During WW2 she helped entertain the troops. In later years she did part-time work as a semi-professional musician.
She married her wartime sweetheart Stan in 1946 upon his return from the Middle East. Son Peter was born in 1947, followed by Robert in 1951. In early married life they lived in a post-war "pre-fab" house. Their life together was characterized by ongoing household moves, always to improve their lot. Peter died tragically in a motorcycle accident in 1966 which took many years to come to terms with.
She and husband Stan enjoyed travel and visited many European countries in the 1960's and 70's. In 1981 they took the huge step of emigrating to Canada to be closer to Rob and his new family. Travelling continued until Stan died in 2005. The frequency of moving house continued too, maybe even accelerated, with 15 moves recorded in 38 years!
Grace is survived by son Robert (Barbara), granddaughter Allison, grandson Christopher (Marcy), great granddaughters Bellamy and Wyatt, and her niece Pauline (Paul) in England.
Grace was a hard-working, intelligent woman who loved her family deeply. She suffered very little ill health, and we are grateful for her 99 years. She will be greatly missed. We thank the staff at Trillium Woodgrove Manor for the excellent care they provided in the past two years.
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