Audrey Olive Ellen Channell (nee Alexander) RN
June 27, 1927 – November 09, 2021
Our Mom has passed. A great Mom, wife, daughter and person is now gone.
Our Mom was a proud Quebecer born in Mascouche and raised and married in Verdun.
After high school she enrolled in nursing at Montreal Homeopathic Hospital (now Queen Elizabeth Hospital) graduating in June 1948 with her RN designation.
Mom always liked travel and adventure. In the late ‘40’s she with fellow nurse and close friend Betty Banks went across Canada to nurse in Vancouver and then in Portland, Oregon. When back in the east it was off New York City to nurse while living in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn.
In the early ‘50’s she became a stewardess for Trans Canada Air (now Air Canada). Based in Montreal she flew the North Atlantic route to London and Paris, the Caribbean routes as well as the Montreal – Vancouver route. In those days a stewardess had to be an RN. The stories and pictures of post-war commercial air travel are both fascinating and entertaining.
She met her future husband Albert on a blind date at the Notre-Dame-De-Grace (NDG) Tennis Club through mutual friends and it actually worked, lasting through 6 years of courtship and over 53 years of marriage. Dad was working for the Royal Bank in Havana, Cuba and Mom was in Montreal. Both flew to meet in Miami where Dad popped the question and the rest is history. Marriage was a difficult decision for Mom as she would have to resign from TCA, the rules of the day did not allow a married woman to be a stewardess.
In married life the travel did continue but in a different manner as Dad’s career with the Royal Bank took them from Montreal to Moncton back to Montreal then off to Vancouver in 8 hectic years, all with 3 somewhat rambunctious boys in tow. During those busy years she continued to nurse part time and volunteer at the local hospitals when she could. She used to say her life had become that of a short order cook and taxi driver getting her boys, which included Dad, fed then off to their next sports event. Both her and Dad said the Vancouver years (12 of them) were the best of their married lives.
Later it was back to Montreal and finally to Miami where Dad retired from the Royal Bank.
In retirement they split their time between Waterloo, On. and Sarasota, Fla.
The travel however continued visiting family and to many far flung reaches in the world always looking for a new adventure.
In 2008 her world changed as her beloved Al passed and again in 2010 when visiting NYC with her best friend, Lillian Pollock, an accident took away her ability to travel.
Mom always had a smile on her face and an ever optimistic outlook on life. Dad used to say those were two aspects (among others) about Mom he found so attractive.
Mom spent the last 11 years at the Kensington assisted living facility in Oakville travelling occasionally to visit family and friends in Vancouver.
She was predeceased by her parents George and Florence Alexander and husband Albert. She leaves behind her 3 loving sons Scott, Brent and Craig, their wives Marlene, Denise and Lori, grandchildren Kate, Jane and Scott, Vanessa and Victoria, and Kayla and Mellissa and great- grandchildren Jack, Kate and Clark.
We would like to thank all the staff both past and present at The Kensington for their care and compassion looking after our Mom.
If you so desire please raise a glass (her choice was gin and tonic – always in moderation) and
toast our Mom who had a long life extremely well lived.
We miss you Mom and always will.
Love Scott, Brent and Craig
June 27 1927 November 09 2021
Nos plus sincères sympathies à la famille et aux amis de Audrey Olive Ellen Channell nee Alexander RN June 27 1927 November 09 2021..
Kopriva Taylor Community Funeral Home
Décès pour la Ville:Oakville, Province: Ontario