CARRIE GERTRUDE BEECHINOR

With deep sadness we announce the passing of Carrie, our beloved mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. She left on us Friday, July 23, 2004 at the Elizabeth Centre in Val Caron, Ontario.
The stork dropped Carrie Gertrude into the Harnett family on December 24, 1916 in Alsask, Sask. She always talked fondly of the wonderful, yet challenging, years she spent growing up in Saskatchewan.
In Alsask at the age of 16, she was introduced to Fred Beechinor. He was obviously smitten because when Carrie’s family packed up and moved to Fort Frances in 1933, Fred showed up on their doorstep less than a year later. Since she couldn’t shake him, she married him, on June 16, 1939. And they enjoyed 61 happy and fulfilling years of marriage, living in Fort Frances. Their home was always a welcoming place for friends, neighbours, and family. Sadly, Fred passed away in October, 2000.
In 2002, Carrie carted herself and her belongings off to Hanmer to live with her daughter and son-in-law, Lynn and Jeff Caddel. From Lynn’s, Carrie moved into a nursing home (the Elizabeth Center).
She is survived by Lynn and Jeff; her son, Tom; her granddaughter, Carrie Ann Caddel; her grandson, Chris Caddel and his wife, Vanessa; and her great-granddaughters, Katherine, Madeline, and Maeve.
Also surviving are her two sisters, Ruby Prouten and Hazel Steele; her brother-in-law, Mal Steele; her sisters-in-law, Elaine Harnett, Isabelle Backman, and Joyce Beechinor; and other relatives, including numerous nieces and nephews.
Carrie truly reflected the warm-heartedness of her parents, William and Mary Harnett (William died in 1957 and Mary in 1975). Also predeceasing her were her brothers, Fred (1920), Sam (1944), George (1950), and John (1984), as well as her sister Stella Clark (1985).
Although the upkeep of the cabin (beside her sister Hazel’s cottage on Rocky Inlet) kept Carrie (and Fred) very busy, she found time to enjoy, and sometimes join in, the activities of her and Hazel’s children and grandchildren. While swimming, boating, or fishing, she would often contrast Rainy Lake’s expanse of water with the dry, baldheaded prairie of her youth.
As everyone who has sat down at her table will attest, Carrie was a terrific cook. She was also a wonderful housekeeper and caregiver. Even near the end she was thinking of her family as much as (maybe even more than) herself.
When Carrie was young and able, she loved to play baseball. But curling was her true passion, and she became quite skilled at it. Over the years she won many trophies, pins, and prizes. Curling also brought out her iron determination: she once skipped a team that laid an eight ender when the opposition was seven up coming home. When she could no longer curl, she never missed an opportunity to analyze from her armchair the televised games.
Carrie was active in the Fort Frances community. She was a Noble Grand, a Past Noble Grand, and District Deputy President of the Redwing Rebekah Lodge, and a member of the Knox United Church UCW and the La Verendrye Hospital Ladies Auxiliary.
The visitation took place on July 28, 2004 at 9 a.m. at the Knox United Church in Fort Frances.
Her funeral service followed at 10 a.m. (with internment at Riverview Cemetery). The Rev. Marietta Marshall officiated. The pallbearers were Sam Harnett, George Harnett, Ken Richards, Rob Gushulak, Wayne Ross, and Ted Davis.
In memoriam the family asks that donations be made to either your provincial Heart and Stroke Foundation or the United Church of Canada’s Mission and Service Fund (3250 Bloor St. W., Ste. 300, Toronto, ON M8X 2Y4).
Carrie’s family and friends will sorely miss the warmth of her smile and laughter. Mum, may your spirit rest with Dad’s in the arms of love.