Obituary of Nina Jennie Mabel Klein

My Grandma, Nina Jenny Mabel Smith, was born on November 30, 1923 in North Battleford, SK. She was the fifth child of Rosannah Lawrence and William Smith. Shortly after she was born, her family journeyed to their home country of England but returned to Canada three years later where my Grandma was raised. In 1945, she met my Grandpa while working in a hospital and shortly thereafter, they started their family. They had six children - Ron, Fred, Brenda, Linda, Allan and Bob. My Grandma was completely devoted to being a mom. She always did her best to make a good life for her kids, complete with family picnics and annual vacations from Fort Nelson. These trips would be a ton of work for her packing up the food, dishes and all of the other necessitates to go along. And my Grandpa could never wait until their destination to eat so the family would have to settle for lunch in the ditch but my Grandma never complained. She missed her kids after they were grown and had moved away, so she and my Grandpa left Fort Nelson for Dawson Creek so she could be closer to them. Quite simply, her world was her kids. My Grandma was probably most well known for her big family meals. In fact, she was still cooking her kids' favorite meals well into her eighties. Each of her kids got to choose their favorite dish and she would invite the entire family over to celebrate. The birthday boy or girl also got their favorite cake! She always had the table set perfectly and orange tang in her glass juice pitcher. She wanted to make sure that everyone was looked after and even in her final days, she was urging us to go and eat. Grandma was an awesome housekeeper and always had her home neat and tidy. She was quite incredible, living on her own until age 91! She loved to garden and always had pretty flowers all over her yard. She was also very crafty! She knitted, crocheted, and sewed! She used to sew pretty dresses for her girls for every holiday. One time, in Fort Nelson, a dry cleaners burned down so my grandma rummaged through the garments taking out what could be salvaged. That year, Brenda's dress for the family picture was made from the salvaged material. However, she did wear it backwards because it looked a bit nicer! My Grandma was crafting right into her 90's and even knit Arielle a dress three years ago that Arielle still wears. My Grandma was a hard-working and strong woman. She would not shy away from any kind of work and enjoyed living independently until she was 91 years old! During her life, grandma fought and conquered breast cancer twice. She got her license at age 55. And nearly her entire life, she would shovel her own driveway and pack in her own wood, despite rejections from her boys! Grandma was game for anything! She could out-do the best of us while shopping, that's for sure! If she was tired, you would never have known it! She would drink a glass of wine, help with wedding projects, go out for Chi Chi's on her birthday, and participate in all of our family craziness. She was an adventurer by heart, travelling with Linda to Greece and cruising with Linda and mom and dad to the Caribbean. Five years ago, at the age of 88, she made her first snow angel out at mom and dads. My Grandma loved being surrounded by her family. She would sit quietly, taking it all in with a joyful smile on her face. She spoke gently, loved sweetly, and inspired her family. She cherished her son and daughter-in-laws as her own. She loved us grand-kids like crazy and treasured every moment with us. And she adored her great-grandchildren and we were lucky enough to be able to share them with her. She was a peaceful strength in our crazy world. I'd like to sign off with some wise advice from my Grandma that I think we could all learn from. A few months ago, Auntie Jackie asked her, "Nina, what would you do differently if you could go back and do it over again?" and my grandma's, well-thought out response was, "Eat More Butter". Great advice if you ask me! Thank you all for coming to celebrate my Grandma's beautiful life. Service 1:00 pm Saturday, November 26, 2016 Bergeron Chapel 10200-17th Street DAWSON CREEK, British Columbia, Canada V1G 4C2 Interment Brookside Cemetery 108 ave DAWSON CREEK, British Columbia, Canada