Winnifred (Charlton) Neely was born July 25, 1922 to W.W. (Bill) and Maude Charlton of Millicent.
She grew up in Millicent, surrounded by five brothers, Tom, Hank, George, Frank and Bob. Her schooling was in Millicent and Duchess where she must have learned beautiful penmanship since later in life, she would hand write thousands of letters to missionaries all around the world.
Managing the store and post office in Millicent were some of the things she did before she married John Neely in 1948 and moved to his farm at Imperial Colony. After about 5 years on the farm, John and Winnie moved to Calgary where Winnie worked as a bookkeeper for various companies and helped John in his radio and TV repair business. They kept their farmland and would go back to Imperial Colony for the spring and summer months.
Besides John, Winnie’s greatest love was for her Lord. She lived her faith through her prayers and actions, such as taking care of her mother who lived with her and John from 1967 until her passing in 1984.
After John passed away in 1985, Winnie continued to live in Calgary for the next thirty-three years, filling her life with activities at her church (First Alliance), prayer groups, mission work, gardening and yardwork. Along with this she kept track of her siblings and all her nieces and nephews and their families. Winnie knew and prayed for each one by name.
In Dec of 2017, she moved to Sage Hill Retirement centre but as dementia started to invade her life, Winnie moved to Bow Crest care centre in Calgary and then to Westview Community Care in Linden where she has lived for the last year and a half. It was here she felt at home, working her way into the hearts of the residents and staff- whom she loved to tease and always had a big smile and comment for them all.
Winnie was predeceased by her parents, her husband, four brothers, three nieces and three nephews. She leaves to fondly remember her: one brother, Bob, nineteen nieces and nephews and their families as well as numerous friends.
Funeral services will be held at Thom’s Funeral Home, Duchess, AB on Thursday March 12th at 2 PM.
