Obituary of Rhoda Jeannette Forbes

Rhoda Jeanette Forbes was born in Dawson Creek on August 13th, 1944. She joined her sister Lillian and her parents Margaret and Roy Forbes who lived in Rolla B.C. Soon to follow were her sisters Margy and Judi and brother Roy. Rhoda had fond memories of her childhood in Rolla - games of run sheep run and tin can alley, Christmas concerts at the Rolla hall, skating in the winter, and so on. Our mom kept her girls well turned out with matching outfits and long blonde ringlets. I'm sure that if her younger sisters, Margy or Judi, were having any trouble in the school playground, Rhoda would have quickly put things right. Our dad passed away suddenly in 1955. In 1959, Mom married Dave Fellers and we moved to Dawson Creek. Dave's children, Dorothy, Bill and Betty joined us to make a blended family. In 1963, we were blessed with our baby sister, Brenda. In the early sixties, Rhoda went to Ft. Nelson to work as a telephone operator for CN. She married Trevor's Dad, Vic Sattich, and lived in Ft. Nelson until the early 70s when she returned to Dawson Creek to live. Trevor was born in 1972. Rhoda and Vic separated around this time. A bit later on, Bill Cornish became Rhoda's life long love. In 1975, Rhoda, Bill and Trevor welcomed Travis into the family. Rhoda, Bill and the boys moved around a fair bit over the next fourteen years, living in Dawson Creek, Pouce Coupe, Whitehorse, Haines Junction, the Sikanni, Wonowon and Baldonnel. In the early 80s, Rhoda and Bill took over the Sikanni Lodge for a few years. In early 1989, Trevor was in a serious car accident, from which he never fully recovered. Rhoda's Selfless devotion and dedication to Trev's recovery made a huge difference. In the midst of all this, she managed to go back to school and, in the mid 90s, graduated from Simon Fraser University with a degree in education. While living in Baldonnel, Travis and Lisa presented Rhoda with two precious granddaughters: Jordyn in 1993, April in 1995. Jordy and April were the light of Rhoda's life. In 2005, Rhoda and family moved back to Dawson Creek so that Rhoda could be closer to our mother. Bill passed away that same year. Rhoda remained in Dawson Creek until her death, at the age of 72, on January 10th, 2017. Rhoda had many jobs in her 72 years including stints as a city bus driver, a respite care coordinator for the Childhood Development Centre in Ft. St. John, a telephone operator, owner of the Wool Shop and more. She contributed many chemo quilts for the comfort of local cancer patients and was a dedicated volunteer for the Meals On Wheels program. Rhoda liked nothing better than to head out on the highway in her motor home, making trips to Vancouver and Vancouver Island with Trev, Jordy and April. She loved the north and took many summer journeys up the Alaska Highway with her family, including fishing trips to Haines, Alaska. Marg tells stories of being with Rhoda, Bill and the boys at rodeos, trips to the Okanagan and a memorable trip to a gourd show in Kentucky where Rhoda's seventeen entries took seventeen prizes - sixteen firsts and one second. I remember a motor home full of sisters descending on the Canmore Folk Festival one summer when I was performing there. We had loads of fun and I got a lot of 'little brother' type teasing that weekend. Rhoda loved to cook. She was always up for trying unusual new recipes and her family was happy to be her taste testers. She canned up a storm every summer and shared generously. She delighted in preparing loads of fresh veggies from the garden tables that Travis built for her. Rhoda was always doing something creative with her hands - knitting, sewing, crocheting, ceramics, painting with water colours and acrylic, etc. I think we'd all agree, though, that her biggest artistic achievements were with her gourds and her quilting. Rhoda discovered gourds while on a trip to a pumpkin patch in Steveston with Lydia and Suzannah. She took a couple home with her and before you know it, she had all of the equipment she needed, had discovered "The Gourd Patch" on the internet, built her own gourd website and dove full tilt into gourding. She eventually began teaching gourd classes in Canada and the US and produced several instructional gourding books which were best sellers in the gourd world. She was also a prize winning gourd artist, both in Canada and the US. After some time, the pure physicality of scraping and carving gourd took its toll on Rhoda's hands. Quilting became her next passion and, like everything else Rhoda tried, she excelled at her quilting work. She was a prolific and innovative quilter, eventually teaching, both online and in person. Rhoda loved to share her art, many of our homes house treasures from her hands. In early November, Rhoda went to Edmonton to have open heart surgery. Her heart had suffered damage from a childhood bout with rheumatic fever. After the surgery, everything went wrong. She put up one hell of a two month fight but passed away on January 10th. Travis and Trevor went with Rhoda to Edmonton and were by her side every day, until the end. Rhoda Jeanette Forbes was an inquisitive, creative, generous woman. She had a fierce and deep love for her family. Rhoda left us far too soon but she will live in our hearts, forever. Written by Rhoda's brother, Roy Forbes. Memorial Service 1:00 pm Saturday, January 21, 2017 Reynars Funeral Chapel 1300 102nd Avenue Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada V1G 2C6