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STOUTENBURG, Roberta Fay - It is with heavy hearts and great sadness, we wish to announce that on December 12, 2016 the Angels came for our mom, Roberta Fay Stoutenburg. She passed away peacefully at Castleview Care Centre where she had been residing for the past 15 months.                                                                                                    

On March 8, 1929 Mom was born to Bathy & Elwyn Close in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and subsequently lived and attended school in Ernfold Sask. area. While in High School not only did she acquire a baby sister, Nadiene but also found the love of her life Gordon Stoutenburg. They married as soon as she graduated from High School in 1947 and using the $25 wedding gift from her parents, they bought a train ticket to Trail, B.C. Shortly thereafter they moved to Fruitvale, B.C. where they built their home, and provided a loving home for them and their three sons.

Mom loved knitting, crocheting and taught herself how to do Tatting.  She was a Girl Guide & Brownie leader for many years, a Life Member of the Legion Ladies Auxiliary, founding member and active volunteer of the United Church’s Auxiliary Thrift Shop in Fruitvale, B.C. She also loved bowling, curling, golfing and playing the accordion and piano.

Roberta is predeceased by her parents and her husband Gordon.  She leaves to mourn her passing, her three sons; Doug (Ev), Gerald (Helen) and Kirk (Lena), 7 grandchildren and their spouses; Trudi, Michelle, Sandra, Brad, Jodi, Justin and Crystal, 10 great-grandchildren, 3 step-great-grandchildren, her sister Nadiene Eaton (Pete), close cousin Isabella Weins (Bert) and special friend Bob Irwin.

We would like to thank Castleview Care Centre and Dr. Merritt for the care and compassion given to mom while she was there.

At Mom’s request there will be no service. Cremation has taken place, and a private interment at the Fruitvale Memorial Cemetery will be held at a later date. Bill Clark of Alternatives Funeral and Cremation Services™ has been entrusted with arrangements.

As an expression of sympathy, donations in Roberta’s name may be made to a charity of your choice. 

You are invited to leave a personal message of condolence at the family’s online register at HYPERLINK “http://www.myalternatives.ca” www.myalternatives.ca

The most beautiful and satisfying thing that mom had done in and outside was the nourishing touch she gave to her family and her unforgettable colour and blossoms in her garden. We would like to share this clipping that mom carried with her in her wallet.


To Remember Me

The day will come when my body will lie upon a white sheet neatly tucked under four comers of a mattress located in a hospital busily occupied with the living and dying.

At a certain moment a doctor will determine my brain has ceased to function and that, for all intents and purposes, my life has stopped.

When that happens, do not attempt to instil artificial life into my body by the use of a machine.

And don’t call this my Death Bed. Let it be called the Bed of Life and let my body be taken from it to help others lead fuller lives.

Give my sight to the man who has never seen a sunrise, a baby’s face or love in the eyes of a woman.

Give my heart to a person whose own heart has caused nothing but endless days of pain.

Give my blood to the teenager who was pulled from the wreckage of his car, so that he might live to see his grandchildren play.

Give my kidneys to one who depends on a machine to exist.

Take my bones, every muscle, every fibre and nerve in my body and find a way to make a crippled child walk.

Explore every corner of my brain. Take my cells, if necessary, and let them grow so that some day a speechless boy will shout at the crack of a bat and a deaf girl will hear the sound of rain against her window.

Burn what is left of me and scatter the ashes to the wind to help the flowers grow.

If you must bury something, let it be my faults, my weaknesses and all prejudice against my fellow man.

If by chance you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed or a word to someone who needs you.

If you do all I have asked, I will live forever.

Robert N. Test



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