Elizabeth Anne Dagenais (née Hadow) passed away peacefully at St Norbert PCH, Winnipeg in the wee hours of December 22nd, 2021 with her daughter at her side.
Elizabeth was born August 5th, 1928 in Surrey, England to James Vere Hadow and Marion (Pope). Her benign English childhood when her love of all things 4 legged was born, followed by the terrors of WWII and the loneliness of boarding school life marked her forever. Her final school years were spent at a school in Yorkshire which was taken over by the Army during the War. The girls were evacuated to a local stately home and the seeds of her wanderlust were born there; she would listen to bombers leaving the nearby RCAF base in the afternoons and lie awake at night waiting to hear the final few limp home.
Life in post war Britain was not easy and in 1950 Elizabeth and a friend set off across the Atlantic. Work in Toronto led to a job in Edmonton where, in a whirlwind romance, she married Jack, an RCAF airman. They would spend 65 years together and travel the world. Months after their marriage they were transferred to France; Marianne was born there, followed by Jeanette on their return to Ottawa in 1958. The family returned to a base in France in 1963; those years were filled with Christmases with the family in England, summers in Elizabeth’s beloved Scotland and jaunts throughout Europe following her intrepid lead. Her creative navigational “short cuts” and their aftermath were family legend.
The final transfer of Jack’s RCAF career led to their permanent home in Winnipeg. At last she could have her own home and create their world there.
After retirement, Elizabeth and Jack lived to travel. Trips back to the UK to spend time at holiday rentals with her brothers in Britain and Europe were frequent. Treasured experiences were flying in a small plane over the Kakadu and Uluru, snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef, bathing in hot springs in New Zealand and the beauty of St Petersburg.
Elizabeth was predeceased by Jack in 2018 and by her elder brother, Keith Vere Hadow. She is survived by her younger brother, Humphrey Roger Hadow, in England, and her daughters Marianne (Peter) of Winnipeg and Jeanette (Don) of Abbotsford, BC. She was fiercely devoted to and besotted by her granddaughters and their daughters: Renée Lazar (Pete) and Danielle Lanthier and great-granddaughters Nina (Avery), Rachel and Hayley, all of the Lower Mainland. Sadly she was unable to meet her great-greats, Luka and Aleyna.
Dementia took Elizabeth’s memories, her clear and articulate English voice and her highly valued independence. The pandemic then took what sustained her most: the closeness and love of her family and of her last little dog, Pippin. Sadly, the lockdown and heavily restricted visiting in the long months of the pandemic echoed at the end of her life the loneliness of boarding school life.The 3 years since Jack’s death were difficult ones and she spent them in a series of transitions in care until coming to St Norbert as the pandemic began.
She was small and feisty, opinionated but innately polite, fiercely political and empathetic, mercurial and very kind. She was an enthusiastic conversationalist and loved nothing more than a witty exchange of ideas.
Mum was a long time donor to the Winnipeg Humane Society, Oxfam and the Health Sciences Foundation. If you think of making a donation in her memory, those would please her.Thank you to the loving caregivers at St Norbert PCH, many of whom also cared for our father: you know who you are. And to Barb Wipf, her dear and long time friend, who could still make her laugh and bring out her cheekiness near the end.
You are missed, Mum. At peace at last.
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Elizabeth Anne Dagenais August 5 1928
December 22 2021..
Bardal Funeral Home and Crematorium
Death notice for the town of: Winnipeg, Province: Manitoba
death notice Elizabeth Anne Dagenais August 5 1928
December 22 2021
mortuary notice Elizabeth Anne Dagenais August 5 1928
December 22 2021