Clem passed away peacefully in her home in Qualicum Beach.
Cherished as a Mom by Michelle (Ken) Butts; Adrien (Christine) Goddu, daughter-in-law Georgina Vickers; as a grandma by Stacie (Brent), Renee (Derek), Brent, Shelly, Jared, Logan, and great-grandson Daz.
Survived by sister Lise Perrault, as favorite "Auntie" by numerous nieces and nephews and Gaston Goddu.
Predeceased by most of her siblings, Arthur (Mac) Vickers - 1992 and son Neil Vickers - 2004.
Clem was born into a loving family with 5 siblings in Ponteix, Sask. Graduating from Grey Nuns Hospital in Regina, Sask in 1948; she dedicated her life to being a healer. Marrying Gaston, she became a farmer's wife. Clem nursed and raised her family in Sask: spiced with winter travel ranging across the Western Provinces and Southern USA. Remarrying; she left the prairies for Northern BC in 1970, then retired to Vancouver Island in 1981. She enjoyed her family, her dogs, her friends, reading, painting, doing crossword puzzles in ink from left to right, playing scrabble, welcoming visitors and always, 'on call' as a healer.
A memorial service was held on Aug 5 at the Kiwanis Village (Mom's home for the last 3 years) with Father Kobos officiating.
Mom & her main "3"! We enriched her life with our spouses, extended families & especially her grandchildren.
Since Ken & I (Michelle) moved to the Island in 1993, Mom was part of everything from family events, BBQ's, parties, beach walks, boating with friends, lawn dart tournaments, always with a laugh, ready for the ridiculous, spreading her witchy magic. Saturday morning garage sales became a tradition followed by hard fought scrabble games.
Here is a last message I found amongst her things:
Don't Cry Because It's Over
Smile Because It Happened!
I'd like the memory of me
To be a happy one.
I'd like to leave an afterglow
Of smiles when day is done.
Mom's love of camping started as a young girl in the home made 'camper' mounted in back of Grandpa's grain truck; where as a family they often camped their way from Sask to BC. Grandma producing meals from their ice box and a coleman stove. Not many tourist services in those days.
From their new home in Northern BC, Adrien remembers camping a lot as a child, exploring the North. They traveled to Saskatchewan and Alberta almost every summer taking different routes. Wonderful trips exploring new areas, visiting family and friends along the way.
One very memorable trip, they were camping in the Banff/Jasper area. Mac was BBQing when a black bear walked up behind him. The dogs chased the bear up a tree. Later the bear came back with a couple of cubs, which the dogs also treed. The black bear turned and charged the dogs, which turned tail and ran straight back to their people. Adrien ran to the car, jumped in and locked the doors - leaving the rest of them to fend for themselves the best they could. No one ever let him forget it, especially his brother Neil.
Graduating from Grey Nuns in 1948 with her treasured RN designation set her career and life path as a healer.
A nurse is always in demand; wherever they traveled, she could always find a position. She so loved nursing, especially all the years as night supervisor in the emergency room in a variety of hospitals. She loved the craziness, the unpredictability, the demand on her talents, the strange characters and events she encountered working the 'night shift'.
Some of my fondest memories through high school were sharing breakfast with Mom when she came home from work and the stories she had to tell before we went to school and Mom went to bed for the day.
During the couple of decades we were provinces apart there were the many phone calls to Mom for the emergencies that two very active girls can create. Doctors were a last resort. Always, as a healer, she was 'on call' - loving to use her talents to help whenever she could.