Obituary of Jean McRann

Jean was born on November 20th, 1935, in Dawson Creek. She was the first child of Bert and Lillian Watson. As a pioneer family, there were many challenges of living in the country. Jean's challenges began shortly after birth with multiple surgeries to correct a cleft palate which made eating almost impossible. The family had difficulty dealing with the next challenge, where to live and call home. After several moves in the Landry and Clark district the family settled on the Watson farm on the banks of the Pouce Coupe River in 1941. As time rolled on, schooling became the next challenge for the family. In Jean's case this included some boarding out to attend school in Pouce Coupe, Central, Landry, Bonanza, the Catholic School and Convent in Dawson Creek, and then Clark school, where transportation to and from was by horse and buggy in the summer or horse and cutter in the winter. Jean finished off her education attending high school in Dawson Creek where she stayed at the dormitory. After schooling Jean worked at the CIBC bank in Dawson Cree for a short time. It was during this time she met Gordon McRann at a New Year's Eve dance. Following the courtship they were married in November of 1953 and lived on the original McRann farm, half a mile south of the Watson farm. Jean and Gordon operated a cattle ranch raising purebred Shorthorns. Under the banner of Bearcroft Shorthorns they showed cattle from Rolla, clear through to the Toronto Royal Exhibition, and south to the PNE, collecting championships everywhere they showed. It meant many hours travelling, hauling cattle, and sometimes even the children. On top of all this, Jean was secretary of the Provincial Shorthorn Association for ten years. Jean's love of horses was instilled early from her Mom and spanned her entire life. Riding Merry Lynn in the Pouce Coupe Valley checking cows during the summer, was indeed one of her pleasures. There were also many rides to the Rim Rocks and to the mountains. As well as cattle, they raised chickens and sold eggs in town. I can still see the baskets and baskets of eggs, that all had to be cleaned using sand paper. At times I was chore boy when they were on the road showing cattle. Now, the pioneer McRann family were not tall people, so I would always be banging my head on the low ceilings and doorways. Jean could run the tractor, baler, drive truck, wash bulls, haul and show bulls. She was a hard worker - and yes, she could "wear the pants" in every way, during the farming years. Speaking of baling - I recall the story told when Jean had to "eat a bit of crow"! They had a homemade sloop tied on behind the baler and could stack several bales on it before dumping. Jean was driving the tractor and things were going along pretty good. She noticed something black way across the other side of the field, and wondered if it was an animal - maybe a bear. As she got closer she realized it was Gordon sitting on some bales. Jean did not realize the bale sloop had become unhooked from the baler. CAN YOU IMAGINE THE GUILTY THOUGHTS SHE MUST HAVE BEEN THINKING AS SHE GOT CLOSER! Son Garth was born in 1955, and daughter Sheri in 1958. I can remember the jubilation expressed, to be lucky enough to have one of each! All the hard work paid off as Jean got her new house in 1959. What an undertaking that was! Mixing concrete for the basement with a small mixer, and pouring the concrete by wheel barrow, up the ramps, and then building the house before the days of power tools. Family, friends and the community all lending a helping hand made it workable. Don and Sheri still live in that house today. Visiting family and friends was an important part of life, and Jean's Sunday dinners were well known. There was always an abundance of delicious squares, cakes, and cookies. Jean always maintained and harvested a huge vegetable garden each year. It wasn't unusual to be shelling peas the night before the Fall Fair cattle show. Dancing, picnics and ice carnivals in the community became a diversion from the hard work. Soft ball and hard ball became a common summer sport and of course the food booths had to be set up, with lots of home baking. Jean was a member of the Clark Ladies Busy Bee Community Club. They held showers etc. for the new brides in the community, and organized whist nights at the old Clark school. Curling became a favorite sport when the curling rink was built in Bonanza. It was very special to be on our Dad's team. Over the next few years, this evolved into bonspiels all over the country as Garth became an excellent curler. Somehow Jean found time for it all! Jean was very involved in every level of 4H, both locally and provincially. She also was a teacher's aid at Pouce, and did some work stints at Min. of Agriculture. She was very involved in the Dawson Creek Exhibition for years, and ended up being awarded a Life Time Honorary member. In 1977 when it seemed the family had everything going for them, tragedy hit the farm. Garth was in a fatal farm accident. This caused a big hole in the family, especially so in Jean's life. Garth had gone to Agriculture College in Olds, and bought land in the BayTree area. All the big plans were now interrupted. Jean filled with pride as Sheri attended and graduated from Nursing School in Kamloops and took up nursing in Dawson Creek. She married Don Murphy who was also very involved in the cattle industry as exhibitor and cattle judge, which is how Sheri met him. They were married in June 1980. Jean looked for ways to get life back on track. It seemed to help by doing things like trips to the mountains berry picking. Speaking of berry picking: Jean loved berry picking - no one could out pick Jean. The story told, was one time up at Puggin's Mountain, Jean claimed a real good patch of huckleberries for Sheri and herself. She heard noise nearby. Being quite possessive of her berry patch, she told Gordon "go find his own patch". The rustling got closer, and when she looked up it was a bear. Jean and Sheri were able to retreat and let the bear have that patch. Jean left the farm in 1980 and moved into Dawson Creek. She picked up some odd jobs working for a grain farmer and a greenhouse operation. These jobs kept her close to the land, and flowers, which she dearly enjoyed. Jean would go out to Garth's farm on weekends and work in the yard cutting grass and planting flower beds. There was an old house on the property so she endeavored to fix it up. She did some fencing and kept her horses there - it was her retreat! Jean then got a job with Forestry. It was the kind of job that kept her out doors a lot, working with ranchers in community pastures. She thoroughly enjoyed her time fighting fires and spent many hours in planes and helicopters on fire patrol. During her years with Forestry she formed many lasting friendships with ranchers all over the area. She was well respected among her peers, and retired after a rewarding career of 16 years with the Ministry of Forests and Lands. Jean moved out to her farm and was enjoying retirement. She did trail rides, cattle herding, river boating with Helen & Gene Moore, riding around in water trucks in the oil patch, and yes - more berry picking, and even rock picking in the mountains. At one of the cattle round ups Jean and her horse were charged by a bull. She was hurt pretty badly. I think that was the last roundup she worked with. The brightest light in Jean's life, was spending time with her grand kids. Most grandparents have trouble keeping up to their grand kids, but that was not the case with Jean. Always keeping busy, her grandkids were often trailing behind trying to keep up with her. She instilled a love of the outdoors in Derek and Janelle from early on. Jean's influence directed Derek to receive his degree in Forestry. Janelle took on Jean's more creative influence, partaking in pottery and the love of crafts, and teaching. All in all, life was once again good for Jean. The exception was when her house burned down. This really hit her hard as she had just moved all her worldly possessions into the old house. Amazingly, as we sifted through the rubble, we were able to salvage some of her jewelry, and a few of her family pictures - some of which you will see on the power point. Jean had a new home set up in 1998. Soon she was back to puttering in her yard and once again, enjoying her retirement, and doing what she loved to do. Her health was becoming a concern being alone at her farm. We sat for coffee many times talking about the possibility of moving to town. "NOT YET!" was her response. She loved her yard. It was beautiful to say the least! The majestic spruce trees in her yard overlooked the hundreds of species of flora which Jean had gathered to create her beautiful English gardens. Jean enjoyed a variety of hobbies such as canning, pottery, painting, candle making, macram, crocheting, weaving, flower pressing and paper making. One of her greatest joys was feeding a watching birds all year long. She even kept diaries of her daily bird visits. Over the years Jean enjoyed a number of trips to Mexico, Hawaii, Yukon, and across Canada and into the US. Her travels always yielded treasures such as drift wood, seashells and unique rocks. Jean suffered two heart attacks and had neck surgery - this slowed her down a bit - but not much! Then in February 2012 she had her stroke. Sadly that put an end to her little paradise at BayTree. She spent the last years in the hospital and Rotary Manor where Sheri was now working in management. This was nice for all of us but put quite a work load on Sheri. Jean looked forward to getting out for special occasions. The highlight was taking an overnight trip to Grande Prairie to attend her granddaughter's wedding. This was Jean's opportunity to stay in a hotel and spend time with family. She always appreciated family and friends coming by to visit. She frequently reminded us that she had to get out to her farm, and her green house. She found enjoyment in the Rotary Manor gardens and took pleasure in planting her own flower bed. During the last six months Jean let God know she was ready - "let's get on with it", she would say with her favorite hand gesture which meant "enough". -yes, we talked about being enough, but in her very dignified way. Life was getting more difficult every day, and her frustration would grow. During those discussions she would reflect and say "but I need a great grand baby"! This is what would complete her bucket list. Her last smile, was when Sheri took Jean's hand, and rubbed it on Janelle's tummy and said "Mom, you're going to be a great grandma" (May 2016). Jean is now at peace, no more suffering - she maintained her dignity right to the end as she had family by her side, as we wished her happy birthday one more time. I cannot leave this podium without a special thank you to Sheri for taking such great care of our sister. Sheri did the impossible by juggling Nurse Sheri and Daughter Sheri. We don't know how you did it, but thank you, thank you!!! Service 2:00 pm Thursday, November 26, 2015 Bergeron Chapel 10200-17th Street DAWSON CREEK, British Columbia, Canada V1G 4C2 Interment Rolla Cemetery Rolla ROLLA, British Columbia, Canada