Jeanne Fell

Jeanne Fell of Flin Flon, Manitoba passed away Saturday, September 30, 2023 at the Flin Flon General Hospital at the age of 93 years.

A private family graveside service for Jeanne Fell will be held at Ross Park Cemetery.

If friends so desire memorial tributes may be made to the Flin Flon / Creighton S.P.C.A., P.O. Box 863, Flin Flon, Manitoba, R8A 1N6 or to the Lord's Bounty Food Bank, 2 Hiawatha Avenue, Flin Flon, Manitoba, R8A 0X3.

Jeanne was born in Warrington, England, Dec. 1, 1929. She grew up with her sisters Dodie &
Pat and brother Edger. She danced both tap and ballet from an early age and spent her 20’s
on the stage travelling, dancing and acting. A broken ankle forced her off the stage and into a
position at Brother Sewing Machine Co. During this time Jeanne was also involved with
Scouting and met the love of her life, Jim, at a World Jamboree in Sutton Coldfield, England in
1957. Jim waited patiently for her to come to Canada and after a long courtship they were
married in 1965. When asked by people over the years what the secret to their happy
marriage was, they responded, “talk about everything and compromise”.

Jeanne always did all of the cooking and was an excellent cook as was evident from Jim’s
delicate figure. She regularly made homemade perogies, cabbage rolls, Jam, Pickled onions
and various cookies. Her patience was unlimited and she was happy to teach anyone who
wanted to learn. Kyla and Brie had many cooking sessions with Nana and still make their own
perogies like she taught them. She also had the patience of a saint and allowed them to cook
their way which sometimes resulted in some interesting results… I recall them requiring their
dad to eat what they named “the mother of all perogies” while Nana giggled and supervised.

In Nanas’s planning book she stated “I want my family to remember me for my love”. I can
guarantee she achieved her goal. She was very proud of her family and would brag to
whoever would listen shamelessly about her children and grandchildren. In 1996 her first set
of twin granddaughters, Kyla and Brie were born and she couldn’t get enough of them. She
carried around pictures to show everyone. She babysat when Susan was at work and had
countless sleepovers with them. There were not a lot of rules at Nana and Papa’s and she
always had her “magic bag” handy, which never failed to contain a surprise or treat. She
played many games of what the girls called “cheating bingo” with them as Papa was the caller
and you couldn’t lose. 19 years later her second set of twins arrived and Duncan and Kenzy
became the new bragging material. While they only saw her once a year in person, Stuart
phoned every night and as the kids grew they often FaceTimed Nana. Technology was a
struggle for Nana but we supplied her with 2 ipads so she could FaceTime on one and play
Solataire on the other without changing apps. She could be not feeling well or exhausted and
would still light up like a Christmas tree every time she heard their voices.

Jeanne listed her fondest memory as the Christening of my children and grandchildren. Her
faith was strong and although she never made it back to church after covid due to her
declining mobility, she enjoyed many visits from the local missionaries to as she called it “chat
about Jesus”.

When asked “if you could live your life over again what would you change?” she replied “I
would do it all again and I’d try to be more helpful and considerate.” This was theme in her
life as she volunteered regularly over the years. Jeanne gave her time freely to anything her
kids were involved in and volunteered with the Boy Scouts for over 60 years. She worked
countless bingos and fish ponds, the latter of which was very impressive to her
granddaughters. She was also a member of the Eastern Star and used her love of knitting to
create hundreds of mitts for them to donate. Joanne and the Eastern Star ladies checked on
her regularly and sent countless cards, notes and flowers. While making it to the meetings
became too difficult the past few years, she loved their visits and lunches and looked forward
to chatting with them all. The decades of volunteering came back to Jeanne tenfold in the
past several years, she was surrounded by amazing friends who were quick to pick her up for
church, Eastern Star, bingo or drop by for a visit. Bob and the Mason’s continued to check on
Jeanne after Jim passed and included her in their yearly Christmas supper.

Jim and Jeanne travelled annually for many years with the Mackenzie’s and Ivy. They loved
these visits and looked forward to their yearly adventures. They enjoyed touring museums and
visiting Stuart and family in BC. They also enjoyed their Friday visits to local Legion. Jeanne
was a Legion member and enjoyed playing bingo. She attended the Legion bingo when she
could and rarely missed the Friday bingo at St. Anne’s hall. The workers and players became
friends over the years and she loved the visiting as much as the playing. She also enjoyed
many Saturday morning bingo’s with the Burbidge family for years. The past couple years she
resumed playing Saturday morning bingo with Terry at Hemlock. She loved to dance and she
and Jim were members of the Olde Tyme Dance club.

Jeanne worked many years for Home Care and retired in 1995 due to a back injury. This
resulted in sciatica issues and after a month long hospital stay in traction in 1999, she was
photographed a few weeks later (by Papa of course) down on her hands and knees with Kyla
and Brie on her back playing horsey… apparently love does conquer all.

A year after Jim passed away Jeanne moved into her suite at Hemlock and had 5 years on her
own. She quickly made new friends, reunited with some old friends and began going for tea in
the dining room twice a day and rarely missed it. Hemlock became a home and friends
became family. The kindness and care of the residents of Hemlock and Home Care allowed
Jeanne to remain at home until last month when she went into the hospital. She had daily
visits with Terry, playing word games on Terry’s phone and drinking tea. Shirley also visited
pretty much daily and Margaret visited every evening. Afternoon coffee included an entire
table of regulars and home care workers and she loved every one of them. I’m sure her parting
message would be “be kind” and never underestimate the power of good company.

Jeanne was young at heart and during her most recent hospital stay referred to her 90 year old
roommate as the “elderly woman next door”. At 93 she had knit her last pair of mitts as her
vision was declining but a few months later she told Joanne that she was thinking of taking it
up again… true to her word, she started a scarf. She’d pick it up, knit a few stitches and put it
down. During her last weeks in the hospital, she only managed a few stitches, but her sheer
determination to continue to do something she loved was enjoyable to watch. Jeanne had a
great sense of humor (she had to have to live with Jim) and the older she got, the funnier she
grew. We laughed often and as her memory failed the past few years, her mind remained
intact and she retained the ability to laugh at herself and with us. We never knew what was
going to come out of her next but she definitely picked up where Papa left off.

Jeanne had a 5 ½ week hospital stay prior to leaving us, which now in retrospect, may have
been an elaborate plan to evade long term care… well played Nana, mission accomplished. We
are thankful she is at peace and reunited with Papa. We’d like to thank the hospital staff for
their compassion and care during her stay. Thanks to Darren and Grant Funeral home for your
help and professionalism and thanks to our friends and family for the many acts of kindness
and expressions of sympathy during this time.

Jeanne was predeceased by her husband James, parents Harold and Agnes Boulton, 3
brothers, Harold, Denis and Edger Boulton, and 2 sisters Dodie Busby and Pat Bennett. She is
cherished and lovingly remembered by her children Stuart (Rebecca) Fell and Susan (Rick)
Phillips, grandchildren Kyla, Brie, Duncan and Kenzy, nieces, nephews, extended family and
friends. In close Jim left a knitter’s prayer for Jeanne that he had saved in his many clippings
(author unknown):

I pray when risen from the dead,
I may in glory stand.
Perhaps a crown upon my head,
but needles in my hand.
I never learned to sing or play,
so let no harp be mine.
From childhood to my dying day,
Plain knitting’s been my line.
An so, accustomed to the end,
In plying useful stitches,
I’ll be content, if given to knit,
The little angel’s britches.