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Grace Marie Ringham (neé Edye) passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, at Roseview Manor on Wednesday, March 5, 2014.<br />
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Grace was born in Sioux Lookout, Ont., the fourth of six children born to Anna and Patrick Edye. <br />
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The family home was on Ethel Street, on the shores of Pelican Lake. Grace trained and worked at the Hospital for Sick Children in the early '40s, and returned to Sioux Lookout where she nursed from 1947-49. She met Lewis, a recent graduate from the U. of T. Forestry program, working for the Dep't of Lands and Forests, in 1948. <br />
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They married just over a year later and moved to Kenora to start their life together. Their 64-year journey took them to Cochrane, Toronto, Port Arthur, Bracebridge and Thunder Bay and along the way they made many lasting friendships. Grace helped organize an annual L&F/MNR retiree's picnic which continued to cultivate those relationships.<br />
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Over the years, Grace developed a variety of interests which she maintained throughout her life. <br />
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Her father, Pat, had been a fireman with CN in the steam era, which undoubtedly contributed to Grace's abiding love for trains, and train songs (The Wreck of the Old 97 comes to mind). She enjoyed music and singing. She loved art, particularly oil painting, and always had a camera ready to capture new images. <br />
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She belonged to the Bracebridge Brown Baggers art group, and continued to travel around Muskoka, to take workshops and classes and to exhibit paintings well into her seventies. She had a soft spot for the disadvantaged, whether they were college students needing a home-cooked meal, or Vietnamese immigrants searching for a new life in Canada, and she continued to connect with them decades later. She was honoured by the Ontario Hospital Association for 20-plus years of volunteering at the Bracebridge hospital.<br />
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She sponsored a number of children overseas. She loved babies, wherever she encountered them. On being introduced to her first great-grandchild Henry in 2013, and already in the latter stages of dementia, she shed a few tears, smiled and said very clearly "I've waited a long time for this".<br />
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Grace was predeceased by her parents Anna and Patrick; brother Warren and sister Dorothy and firstborn son Brian. She is survived by her husband Lewis; son Bill (Nancy) of Thunder Bay; daughter Barbara (Robert) of Port Moody BC; granddaughters Amanda Ringham (Revelstoke), Casey (Rob) Jagosky (Huntsville) and Kira Urquhart (Port Moody); brother Gordon Edye (Winnipeg), and sisters Patricia Edye (Sioux Lookout) and Marion (Con) Gould (Dryden).<br />
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Funeral services for the late Grace Ringham will be held on Monday, March 10th at 11 a.m. at Sargent and Son Funeral Home with the Reverend Nancy Ringham officiating. </p>
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A spring interment will follow in Sioux Lookout at a date to be determined. Visitation for family and friends will be held at Sargent and Son from 10 to 11 a.m. preceding the service, and a light luncheon will follow.<br />
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The family wishes to express their sincere appreciation for the compassionate, professional support of the nursing and care staff at Roseview Manor and at Isabella Retirement Living. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Alzheimer's Society of Thunder Bay or the charity of your choice. </p>
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Online condolences may be made at: <a href="http://www.sargentandson.com" target="_blank">www.sargentandson.com</a>.<br />
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