Alma Mae Livingston
Posted Dec 13, 2021 | 12:05 PM
After living for 12 years with Alzheimer’s and dementia, Alma drew her final breath on Dec. 11 2021. She was in her 93rd year. Survived by her husband of 71 years, Gordon Livingston of Markdale, and her eight children: Bruce (Ruth); Larry; Linda Vautour (Bob); Bev (Robin); Judy Jurchuk; Patti Eagle (Mark); Lori-Ann (Mark Breathwaite) and Lois Gallagher (Doug). Grandmother to 18, and great-grandmother to 14. Predeceased by her brother, Wilfred Mansfield; daughter-in-law, Norma, and her great-grandson, Colby.
Known as Alma to some and Mae to others, she was born near Tillsonburg, Ont., on Nov. 8, 1929, the granddaughter of a British Home Child. She spent her formative years first in the Great Depression and next in World War II. These significant historical events made an indelible mark on the woman she became – someone who saved everything, broken or not; someone who learned to do, because you never knew when the bottom would fall out of your world, and someone who knew what was expected. She was resilient, strong, and strong-willed.
She and Gordon raised eight children on the farm, instilling in them the values of faith, hard work and resilience. Mom’s extensive gardens and apple orchard provided hours of plain old hard work – for her and for the kids. In 1988 – aged 59 and two courses’ short of completing the diploma she’d started as a teen – she graduated from Grade 12 at Grey Highlands Secondary School.
Alma Mae led various 4H courses and was active in the Vandeleur Women’s Institute, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, Markdale Church of the Nazarene, also. Once the animals were gone from the farm, and she and Gordon had retired, they travelled to far-off places, including Australia and New Zealand, Greece, Turkey, Mexico, Hawaii, the UK, and all across Canada and the US.
For the past dozen years, she succumbed to dementia, and for the last eight lived at Grey Gables, in the care of staff who treated her – and Gordon, when he visited each week – as their own kin. Even through the pandemic, the staff cared deeply for their residents, at great cost and to little applause.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to the staff fund at Grey Gables LTC, or to the Alzheimers Society of Grey-Bruce, to support research into this disease of aging.
The family will receive friends at Fawcett Funeral Cremation Reception on Sunday, December 19, 2021 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Funeral Service will be held from the chapel on Monday, December 20, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. For COVID-19 Protocols and requirements please see below. Condolences, donations and tributes available at www.fawcettfuneralhome.ca
RSVP required for both visitation and the funeral service. COVID-19 safety measures such as masks and social distancing are in place. Please be prepared to provide proof of vaccination.
Livestream available at https://player.castr.com/live_314ee8f00b3511ec9f6c6d00db0f672f
- First Name : Alma
- Last Name : Livingston
- Funeral Home : Fawcett Funeral Home, Flesherton
- URL : https://www.fawcettfuneralhome.ca/book-of-memories/4801495/Livingston-Alma/index.php
