Mom (Pauline Winnifred Newhouse, nee Graham) passed away on Monday, Oct 9, comfortably sitting at the point of Newhouse Island, looking out at Lake Lillian with Mount Nelson in the background and surrounded by her loving family. She had planned it that way through MAiD (Medical Assistance in Dying). Mom wanted everyone to know that she had a wonderful, happy, healthy, and long (98+ years) life, and she is especially thankful to her family, friends, Dr. Schaffer and his staff, and the Invermere community for making it so.

Mom was born in Assiniboine, Saskatchewan in 1925, the oldest of three sisters. After receiving her Nursing degree from McGill University, she practiced public health in rural Saskatchewan. It was at a barn dance near Rockglen, Sask. where she met the love of her life, Joe. Together they raised a family of three boys (Chuck, Ross, and Ian) and one girl (Nancy). Once the kids were old enough, Mom cultivated a passion for pottery, and over the next 50 years she could be found taking hunks of clay and transforming them into beautiful pieces of art. Today, her pottery graces the homes of family, friends, and buyers around the world (and to many it will bring back fond memories of a caring, creative, and strong-willed lady). For Mom, family was everything. She took great pride in following and supporting the divergent paths of her children and grandchildren, while the family home on Lake Lillian was the hub for all family get-togethers. More recently she has been excited to welcome two great grandchildren to the Newhouse clan. Most importantly, Mom leaves us with a philosophy of life that is best reflected by this poem that her Mom left her:

Life’s Symphony

To be thankful for each new day and to put into it and to get out of it all the good I can:

To give, expecting nothing in return:

To help to bear the burden of others without burdening them with mine:

To know enough of sin to direct others into right paths:

To look to nature for my spiritual lessons and my daily sermons:

To take care of the present and to let the past and the future take care of themselves-

In other words, to live each day as though it were my last.

This is the philosophy of my life; the symphony of my soul.

-Catherine Cordelia Jenny