A great woman

In the past week, I have learned a great deal about my Aunt, Georgina Cumming. She died last Tuesday from Cancer, a disease that she had successfully held off for 29 years.
She was the older of my father’s two sisters, and to her two nephews and niece, she was always the perfectly dressed lady. On her annual treks back to Fort Frances, she would always make time for the three of us. To us, she often appeared aloof and very reserved. Yet we knew that she took great pride in us and followed our life streams of growing up, marrying, having children and then following her next generation of niece and nephews.
She never lost contact with the friends that she had grown up with in Fort Frances, or who she went through nursing school in Port Arthur. As my brother Don and his wife Mags and myself went through her apartment, we learned a great deal about this marvelous lady. Cards and notes had come from all over wishing well.
She always seemed a private person to us, and even to her friends in Powell River British Columbia where she has lived most of her life since leaving Fort Frances. We learned that she volunteered herself to help many in the community. It was done privately and without any fanfare or recognition.
We heard stories of her coming to the rescue of individuals providing emotional and caring support. We learned how trusted she was from fellow workers at the Macmillan Bloedel Mill in Powell River. And we learned that several, chose her to look after their estates on dying.
Georgina had never married, yet she had a family of friends who were as much or more of a family to her than we were.
Her relationships with the people she lived and worked with her long lasting and vital. She had her own adopted family of friends and children in Powell River. She attended their family events, birthdays, anniversaries, graduations and births.
Privately she made a difference to all those she came into contact with. She will be remembered and missed, but her gracious style, her supporting manner will always be remembered.
–Jim Cumming,
Publisher