Vivian Georgina Bright (Cleland)
June 13, 1940 – February 5, 2022
Vivian Georgina Bright (Cleland)
Vivian passed away peacefully at the Dartmouth General Hospital after a short illness. She was born in Rossburn MB and was the only child of Dave and Margaret Cleland. She is survived by her loving husband Carman of 58+ years, daughter Charlene (Giuseppe Spinella) of Ottawa, Charlene’s two sons Jacob age 24 and Matthew age 21, and her son Christopher (Kristeen Eagan) of Waverley NS and his two daughters, Fiona age 5 and Lucy age 3.
Vivian had the pleasure of growing up in a small town in Manitoba. She spent her first year at a logging camp in the Duck Mountains, a few miles north of Rossburn and then until age six in Winnipeg where her father drove a streetcar until 1946. They moved back to the family farm near Birdtail MB after the death of her grandfather. During that year, Vivian attended Bruin school, a one roomer with grades I to VIII (maybe 10 pupils). After that year they moved to Rossburn where her dad had bought a general store, selling hardware, dry goods and groceries and buying animal hides and seneca root. Cleland’s store was very successful and became a hub in the small town. The store was sold in 1961.
It was here, in Rossburn, that Vivian received her elementary and high schooling. She was a keen sports person, loved tennis and took up curling. Curling was always a central part of her life there after. Attending Saturday night country dances and Ukrainian wedding dances in a small town made her good at it and she remained a keen dancer all her life. Throughout her married life she was always keen to dance with her husband, whenever and wherever a band or disc jockey music was playing. It was during those years that she developed her sense of humour and honed her storytelling skills from her dad, who was a master at it.
She left Rossburn in1956 to attend the University of Manitoba where she graduated with a BA (1961) and BSW (1962). She was a member of the Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority in her undergraduate years. It was here, through attending the weekly Saturday night dances at the university residence, that in 1960, she met her future husband, Carman, who was taking Electrical Engineering. Things remained casual for about a year and then they became inseparable. She married Carman Sept.14, 1963 in Winnipeg.
Vivian worked for one year (1962-63) at the Children’s Aid of Eastern Manitoba doing child placement, and then relocated to Halifax NS in October 1963 with her husband who had joined the Naval Research Establishment for his lifelong career in Defence R&D. She continued her career in Social Work, working at the Children’s Hospital in Halifax (now IWK) until the birth of her first child, Charlene, in March 1968. Her work was mainly with Cystic Fibrosis patients.
Thus, her career was put on hold while she raised her family. During these early years she continued to pursue curling, playing at the now defunct Glencoe Club in Halifax.
After relocating to Dartmouth, where the grass is greener and lakes bluer, in the summer of 1968, she joined St George’s Tennis Club and played there as often as she could. She also became a member of the Canadian Forces Base Curling Club in Halifax and played there until 1971 when her husband’s career took them to Weymouth, Dorset, UK for 2 years. They relocated there in Sept. 1971 as a family of four; as her second son, Christopher, had been born in February of that year.
Living, at first, in the small village of Sutton Poyntz in a modern Canadian style home amongst thatched cottages, a cackling brook and a hillside carving of George III leaving Weymouth on his horse, was an experience never to be forgotten. This setting, coupled with Vivian’s gregarious nature, made it easy to develop a small circle of life long friends. During those 2 years travelling the UK on weekends by car, helped to fulfil the goal of seeing as much as possible of England, Wales and Scotland. B&Bs were sought to accommodate the young family and to keep costs down. In all, these adventures provided a great feel of the past history of the UK, and of UK life in the early 1970’s. Needless to say, viewing all the green countryside was superb. Visiting the ancient village churches and cathedrals was always on the list, sometimes to the chagrin of her husband. In June 1973 there was a 3 week driving tour of the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg. This again offered more experiences in other countries and honed a lifelong goal to “Travel the World ”. One other activity that she and the wife of US Scientist practiced, was to go to the country churches to do Brass Rubbings. Rubbing a 5 foot high knight in Westminster Abbey was the crowning glory. Only a few of these many rubbings were ever mounted. Brass Rubbing was banned a few years after that. The two years in the UK were never to be forgotten.
In September 1973, her husband’s career then took them back to Dartmouth for the next 13 years. Raising a family was her main goal, but she found time to lead a Brownie troop, become a member of Wyndholme Christian Church, pursue her love of tennis at the St. George’s club and love of curling at the Mayflower Curling Club. She also took up a membership with the Dartmouth University Women’s Club.
Over time in Guiding she became a Trainer doing work in the Dartmouth area and in Ottawa when living there from 1987 – 91. On her return to Dartmouth in 1991 she was District Commissioner for a number of years. Campfires were always a highlight for Vivian and the troop members, even though she, herself, couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket. That never stopped her from leading the guides with enthusiasm.
Vivian was an inveterate card player, mainly bridge but whatever was going when the opportunity rose. She belonged to at least four different bridge groups. The three most enduring were: a spouses group from her husband’s colleagues founded in 1973 and still going, another small group of neighbours she had while living on Benview Drive from 1973-86, disbanding only one year ago, and the Mayflower Ladies Curling Club from 1973 onward.
She loved learning new crafts, not so much to become an expert, but enough to do a good job at them. Over time these included: pottery, macrame, basket weaving, sewing, knitting, tatting, needlepoint, quilling, crocheting, and painting (the one total failure). Needlepoint, sewing and crocheting were her most productive.
In 1985 she decided that her kids were old enough to continue pursuing her career. First though, the passage of time demanded more education and she received her MSW in spring 1985 from Dalhousie. She didn’t take on a full job at that point but did secretarial work for the NS Association of Social Workers before moving to Ottawa in January 1987. Again, following her husband’s career to work at the Defence R&D Headquarters.
Not letting her career pause for a second, she worked at the Ottawa Civic Hospital for a year and then for 4 years at the Royal Ottawa Hospital as a member of their Geriatric Psychiatric Social Work Teams. She developed very dear friends with whom there has been continuing contact through visits and Xmas cards over the past 30 years. Again, her leisure time was taken up by doing Guides training, curling, some tennis, accompanying her husband on international business trips and joining the Ottawa University Women’s Club. One of their activities was snowshoeing with the spouses of Diplomats. The opportunity to get to various countries’ embassies for receptions was a big highlight.
Her husband’s career took her back to Dartmouth in July 1991 where she immediately joined the Social Work Team at the IWK Hospital in Halifax, working there with mainly Spina Bifida and diabetic patients, until her retirement in June 1998.
On her return to Dartmouth she rejoined the Mayflower Curling Club and got really serious about competitive curling. She was a member of the 1992 Nova Scotia Senior Ladies team and went to the Nationals in Nipawin SK. Success at the Masters level continued. She was on teams that represented NS at the Nationals in 2002 (Medicine Hat AB) and in 2009 (Saskatoon SK). Less serious curling endeavours continued to 2020 including some mixed teams where she and Carman curled together. She was president of the Mayflower Ladies Division in 2005-06. Coming back to Dartmouth, Vivian also joined the Port Wallace United Church and was a faithful member of the congregation until her passing.
Between 1998 and 2018, Vivian was blessed to become a grandmother of two grandsons, Jacob and Matthew and two granddaughters, Fiona and Lucy. Watching them grow up and being involved in their lives was always very important to her. This meant at least three visits a year to Ottawa to see the boys and many trips just down the road to be with her granddaughters. Vivian’s loving presence will be missed by each of them.
For the last 30 years she continued with her bridge playing, book club, crafting, travelling internationally and spending time at Rossman Lake Resort near her birthplace, Rossburn MB. It is notable that the travel opportunity was exploited to the fullest. With her husband, she has managed to have visited, at last count, 83 countries over 6 of the 7 continents, either by land tour, sea cruises, river boat cruises or self guided driving tours. They often enjoyed these adventures with other family members along as well. Sadly COVID-19 put a halt to extending the country count. She enjoyed every minute and just had to see the churches and cathedrals, taking copious notes along the way. Her husband will forever miss that companionship.
One recent venture was when she and her husband joined the Italian Wine Society of Nova Scotia. Their tenet was to sponsor gourmet Italian dinners in the Halifax area and to travel to various countries next to Italy and within Italy. Three two-week trips with the Wine Society included Corsica and Sardinia – 2016, Northern Italy – 2017, and Sicily – 2019. The wine, food and history made those trips very special. They will never be forgotten.
One of the really enduring parts of her life was staying at the cabin at Rossman Lake, basking in the Manitoba summer and swatting a few mosquitoes. Her parents had put in the cabin in 1950, one of the very first on the lake and a great deal of time was spent there as a family in childhood. As an adult, the yearly visits were two or three weeks until retirement in 1998 and then the stays were 2 months long. She loved playing golf at the very nice 9 hole golf course with her husband, children, grandsons, relatives and parents when they were alive. Staying in close contact with her Aunts and Uncles and cousins was a priority. She was always playing cribbage or various versions of rummy with anyone who visited.
In recent weeks, when her health was failing her daughter, Charlene, asked Vivian what she thought was the most important thing she had learned in life. Vivian’s answer was simple, “be kind to other people”. We are all so lucky to have been able to call her friend, cousin, aunt, mother, grandmother or wife. She was so kind to us, and our lives are richer for it.
Thus ends a very full and rewarding life. Vivian’s ashes will be interred in summer 2022 at the Rossburn Community Cemetery in a plot right next to her parents.
Her husband, Carman, will miss her most of all and always.
Donations can be made in Vivian’s memory to the Port Wallace United Church, 263 Waverley Road, Dartmouth, NS B2X3C8
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Vivian Georgina Bright Cleland June 13 1940 February 5 2022..
Death notice for the town of: Dartmouth, Province: Nova Scotia