Obituary of Grace Eleene Neufeld

Born May 22, 1930 on the family farm south of Treherne, Manitoba, Mom was the fourth of eight children. Her mother Lena Irene (Harrison) passed away in 1942 when Mom was twelve. Her dad Gordon Gerald Gorrie worked hard to keep the family and the farm going. Mom and her sisters, Shirley and Lena, took over all of their mother’s chores. Mom was also assigned to raise the geese and the turkeys for market. Once out of school, Mom decided on a career in teaching. She left farm life and went to normal school (an institution created to train teachers not only how to teach but to instil societal "norms" of the time) in Winnipeg and stayed with her sister Shirley who was now married. Mom’s first teaching assignment was back home at the Beaconsfield one room school house. During that time, she lived at home on the family farm, thus saving all of her pay checks. She used those funds to buy her father his first tractor. She was very proud of having been able to help out her dad in this way. Mom’s second assignment was at the two room Wingham school near Elm Creek. She soon caught the eye of a young man named John Neufeld. He lived on his family’s farm just one mile south of the school. One day John rode his motorcycle to see Mom after school. He asked if he could give her a ride to where she was living in Elm Creek. She declined, feeling it was improper for the school teacher to be seen riding on the back of a motorcycle . But when he returned with a borrowed truck, she accepted the offer of a ride. John continued to court her in that borrowed truck. They were married in Winnipeg on July 28, 1956, and John began working as a truck driver for his brother Herman. After one year of marriage they moved to Elm Creek, Manitoba and raised a family of 4. The youngest was Lana and the other 3 were boys: John Jr, Randy and Lance. In 1972 they moved to Carman, Manitoba where John was, by then, a partner in the GM dealership. All of the children finished high school in Carman. John passed away on October 26, 1988. Mom subsequently moved to the Vancouver area where she met Alex Clelland. They were married in 1997. They enjoyed two trips to England. On one of those trips, Alex even took her to Paris. On the other trip, they went to Scotland and met Mom’s cousins on the Gorrie side of the family. Alex passed away in August of 2009. Mom then moved back to Carman in 2011 and took up residence in the Carman Meadowood Estates, a senior's complex for independent living. Her last move was to the Carman Boyne Lodge. Mom held strong beliefs and loved her family. She was a member of the Carman Church of Christ. Mom enjoyed gardening, knitting and crocheting. Her flower gardens won awards. Even at Meadowood, she had a lovely flower garden and a small vegetable patch. In her later years she delighted in setting up her annual Christmas village display. Mom died peacefully in the Boyne Lodge on March 10, 2023. She is survived by her children: John Jr. (Susan), Randy (Debbie), Lance (Gayla), Lana; Her grandchildren: Richelle (Robert), Steven, Tanner, Ariel, Kristyn, Janelle (Andy); Her great granddaughter Olivia; her brother Winston and sisters-in-law Alice, Irma, Betty (Don), as well as many nieces and nephews We would like to extend our deepest thanks to the staff of Boyne Lodge and, in particular, the memory care unit where she lived 2 years and the palliative care staff who made her comfortable in her last days. Mom will be buried in the Beaconsfield cemetery beside her first husband John; not far from the family farm where she was born 92 years earlier.