Tribute

Mavis was born, with her twin brother Mike, in the small village of Pouce Coupe in the Peace River area of BC. Her parents had moved to the Peace from Ontario to farm. Growing up in the north she had many fond memories of the pioneer spirit of small communities such as riding her horse to school.

Mavis, was very proud of one of her first jobs working for the Royal Bank in Dawson Creek during the Second World War. She was always very responsible with finances right up to the end. On September 1, 1947 she married James Alfred Cuthbert (Alf) in a double wedding with her younger sister Audrey in Fort St. John. Mavis and Alf had many adventures in their long life together. Mavis always kept busy wherever she lived, whether refurbishing a Ranger Station house in Tête Jaune Cache or making extra money by leading pack horses to Berg Lake on Mount Robson. In 1970 Mavis and Alf packed their family up and moved to the wilds of Kenya for a year; with her experience growing up on a farm she had no trouble adapting to the rural life. Ten years later Mavis followed Alf to Papua New Guinea for another year of living abroad before she and Alf built their retirement dream home in the Shuswap where they lived for several years before making the final move to Oliver.

In Oliver, Mavis was to prove herself the ultimate organizer with games at Cherry Grove and the Oliver Elks, excelling especially at darts. She and Alf made a dashing couple on the dance floor as they took to square dancing and round dancing which they performed at various events in the Southern Okanagan. Mavis will always be remembered for her love of gardening both with flowers and vegetables. Her jams, black current syrup and other preserves were much sought after commodities.

Mavis is survived by sister Audrey, daughters Colleen Cuthbert (Glenn), Donna Morgan, and son Bob Cuthbert (Leah); and grandchildren, Ariel, Dianna, Andrew, Scott, Caitlin and Meghan.

Mavis will be remembered for her feisty determination, spirit and energy and, right up to her last breath, she lived life on her own terms.

A Celebration of Mavis’ Life will be organized at a later date.