Lynne’s Obituary
Lynne Margaret Eakins, of Middleton, Nova Scotia, passed into the great beyond on 7 July 2022. Lynne was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia on 19 June 1946, the daughter of Harold and Jean (Walker) Jackson, who predeceased her.
Lynne leaves to morn her soul mate, and constant companion James “Jim” Eakins. Lynne was a loving and caring mother to Cory Andrew Eakins (Candace Spinney) of Saint John, New Brunswick; James Macdonald Eakins (Stacey Ryan) of Gatineau, Quebec; and Christopher Robert Eakins of Calgary, Alberta. Lynne was a proud grandmother to five very special people: Caleb Isaac Eakins, James Aidan Eakins, Liam Perry Eakins, Jake Ryan Eakins, and Tessa Ryanne Eakins, all of Gatineau, Quebec. Lynne is also survived by her daughter-in-law, Theresa (Dale) (Eakins) Robertson of Gatineau, Quebec, mother of Caleb, James, and Liam.
Lynne was very close to her brother, Peter Kendall Jackson; to his wife, Sara Jean Clark, of Dempseys Corner, Nova Scotia; and to their children, Alexander Samuel and Amy Jeanne Jackson.
Lynne’s formative years were in Halifax and Spryfield, Nova Scotia and in Montreal, Quebec (short stay as a Navy Brat).
While growing up in Spryfield, her best friend forever was Alice Walker, who lived just around the corner in their subdivision. Alice was a first cousin but to all that knew them they were like two peas in a pod: sisters in every sense of the word.
Lynne was surrounded, through her entire life, by very close maternal (Walker) and paternal (Jackson) cousins. Family gatherings were an important part of her close family and were a much-anticipated annual highlight. Jim, though he was a come-from-away boy, was welcomed into Lynne’s extended family and, truth be known, he really did like the “hug fests” that came with each gathering.
Lynne received her Nursing training at the Victoria General Hospital School of Nursing in Halifax, Nova Scotia, graduating in 1967. She first met Jim while in training at the Nova Scotia Sanitarium (later the Miller Hospital, and now part of the Valley Regional Hospital complex), Kentville, Kings County, Nova Scotia.
She has been a staff nurse at Western Kings Memorial Hospital, Berwick, Kings County, Nova Scotia; Roseway Hospital, Shelburne, Shelburne County, Nova Scotia; and a medical staff nurse and discharge planning nurse at Soldiers Memorial Hospital, Middleton, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia. Lynne officially retired on 20 January 2007 but continued doing some part time work to help with a provincial critical nursing shortage.
Aside from nursing, Lynne devoted most every moment to the raising of her family of “boys” (no easy task to be sure!). What little time that remained of her busy days was given over to her enjoyment of arts and crafts, reading, and gardening.
New to the retirement game, Lynne did her very best to discover the joys of a life of leisure which, strangely enough, seem to include feeling guilty and giving in to requests for her to help resolve the nursing shortage by going back to work now and again. Otherwise, she occupied her time with reading, crafting, trying to figure out her computer, exercise classes, shopping, visiting friends, entertaining friends, kids, and grandkids and keeping the home fort warm for her “zoomie” (aka Jim).
When Jim finally retired from the RCAF, CF, and Civil Service, they embraced travel, in all it’s facets. Their first cruise vacation was in November of 2005, and they caught the bug! Wherever possible they combined land expeditions with their cruises to create extended journeys to exciting destinations: many of which lasted multiple months. Their last vacation was a return to Shanghai (one of their favourite cities alongside Istanbul, Barcelona, and Lisbon) which ended with an extended, 42-day, cruise from Shanghai to Vancouver.
Lynne had such wanderlust for the world and for enjoying life at it’s fullest but, alas, those halcyon days came to a grinding halt with the discovery of a rare, and ultimately uncurable, cancer. Lynne was diagnosed in September of 2018 and, after many long months of tests, found out that she had Neuroendocrine Cancer with no known primary site (which made effective treatments ever more difficult). Lynne has always been a fighter and cancer was but one more challenge, with her continuing her battle right up until the end.
Lynne will be greatly missed and will forever be in the hearts of all those who knew and loved her.
Special thanks to the many doctors and nurses that played so many pivotal roles in her long cancer journey.
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Lynne Margaret Eakins 2022..
Death notice for the town of: Middleton, Province: Nova Scotia