Winnifred Mary Hickling

April 4, 2013

Winnifred Mary Hickling, married to John T. Hickling of Brandon Manitoba, maiden name Sansom. She was born in 1911 in Swindon England and passed away quietly the morning of April, 4, 2013, almost 102 years of age, at Carelife Fleetwood Surrey, BC.

Winnifred raised 13 children and is survived by her five daughters, Mrs. Dorothy Taylor of Vernon, Mrs. Joan Reimer of Yarrow near Chilliwack, Mrs. Linda Timmins of Abbotsford, Mrs. Barbara Scholtens of Duncan BC. and Mrs. Kathy Pratt of Abbotsford, sons Mr. Edward B. Hickling of Coombs BC. and Mr. Richard Leslie Hickling of Surrey, BC.

Winnifred is also survived by many nieces and nephews, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Winnifred moved to Canada at the age of 2. Her sisters Teresa, Kathleen, Mary, and brother Bernard were born in Canada. Mother and Father, Mary Teresa and Berterald, raised the family in South Vancouver.

Her father, Berterald, was a coach carpenter for Canadian National Railway for many years until his retirement, a trade he learned England. Berterald was a well know figure in the Railway community for his meticulous replicas of England's most famous steam engines of the early turn of the century on which he had worked. Her mother, Mary, was a house wife as was Winnifred who sacrificed continually and worked so very hard for her children.

Winnie, as she preferred to be called, grew up in very hard times and had a very hard life. Winnie never complained, she did the very best she could with what she had and gladly helped out others when she had taken care of her own family.

May God Bless her and keep her through His Loving Son Christ Jesus, Amen.

Date, place and time of service to follow.

You are invited to leave a personal message of condolence for the family.

Messages of Condolence

Grandma, I often wondered what dreams you had and what you truly wanted to do in your life. I remember in 2009, during a visit with Sienna and Suelan to Vancouver, that I asked Grandma that very question. If I recall correctly, her reply was that "oh, I was too, too busy taking care of my family to do anything else" Living in Toronto and seeing Grandma once a year or so was often challenging as I wanted to see her more. But regardless of the time between visits, I was always greeted with a warm smile and a big hello, as was anyone who visited her. I love you and will miss you Grandma and I am so very glad that you got to meet Sienna and she her great Grandma. Love always, Greg Hickling-Hennessy, son of Ted Hickling. PS: to the author of the Obituary, I was touched and I thank-you.

- Greg Hickling-Hennessy

Dear Winnifred, Even though I only had the pleasure of meeting you just twice, I remember your warm smile and that sparkle in your eye. The first time I met you was at your birthday when I was just dating Greg, and it was my first time coming to Vancouver and meeting his family. What a happy occasion that was! The second time was when we came out to see you so you can meet your baby great-grand daughter Sienna, who was just eight months old at the time. We had a really nice lunch together and spent some time talking and Greg reminiscing with you. I remember how petite you were but how strong you must have been to have raised such a big family. I can barely function just raising one child so that's quite a feat! I wish we could have come more often to see you but I'm so glad that Greg saw you whenever he flew to Vancouver to see his family on his own. I shall always remember you and treasure the wonderful memories we have of you. Greg always said he was very close to you, which really warms my heart. Lots of love, Suelan Toye

- Suelan Toye

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