Obituary of Annette May Golby

In Loving Memory

Annette May Golby

July 12, 1944 ~ August 19. 2023

 

Annette May Golby was born on July 12, 1944, in Bonnyville, Alberta. She was the eldest of four children born to Louis and Mary Collins, followed by her sister Florence then brothers Edward and Raymond.

Mom was raised in the Bonnyville and Vermilion areas. She met Edward Golby as a young lady in Vermilion when he was delivering Coke to a business in town.

 

Before they were married, Mom moved to Edmonton where she completed hairdressing school. After finishing school, she returned to Vermilion and started planning her wedding to Dad. Grandpa wouldn't let Mom get married until she was 18, so they waited for a whole two days after her birthday. Mom and Dad were married in Vermilion on July 14th, 1962.

 

The two began their married life in the Silver Heights area where Dad worked as a hired man for a local farmer. At this time, Dad's mom became ill so Mom stepped in to help with the family, all while being a new mom herself.

 

Kevin Edward Golby was the firstborn. Not only did he have the honour of being the first grandchild on both sides, but his birthday, October 12, 1963, fell on the anniversary of both sets of grandparents. Kenneth Raymond Golby was the next, born on January 29, 1965. Victoria Louise Golby came next as the first granddaughter on both sides, born on October 7, 1967. Then came a surprise: Valerie Leanne Golby was born on February 27, 1972. She was always told that she was found on the side of the road on the way home from Edmonton, and we just decided to keep her.

 

Mom and Dad purchased the family farm west of Brownfield in the mid-60s. They lived in the old house until the new one was built in the fall of 1977. With four growing children, mom always grew a large garden. She also raised chickens, turkeys, pigs, and kept a milk cow. There was never a shortage of work to be done. The once town girl became a farmer's wife in a hurry, and a good one at that.

 

Mom took a ceramics class at Brownfield school and fell in love with it. The instructor (Mrs. Attrell) was looking to retire and took Mom under her wing, so Mom began teaching ceramics.

 

Mom didn't forget about hairdressing either and many days we would come home from school to someone getting a haircut or a perm at the kitchen table, coffee by their side. Mom also took a turn driving the school bus as a substitute driver.

 

Mom then decided to take a correspondence course to become a dietary aide. She had to write the exam with a proctor, so she went to the library of the Brownfield school and had Bea Lindmark observe her exam. She passed and was soon employed at the Coronation Hospital as (you guessed it) a dietary aide. She worked there for the next ten years while continuing to help Dad on the farm.

 

During this time, Mom began the next chapter of her life: being a grandma. Ken and Shelley blessed her with her first grandson: Kenneth Miles Golby (Miles) born on July 1, 1986. Then came Bailey Rochelle Golby, born January 2, 1990, followed by Brandon Richard Elhard on August 23, 1994; Lacey Jane Golby-Larson on August 7, 1996; Jesse Edward Elhard on December 9, 1996; William Douglas Golby-Larson on February 25, 1998; Kyle Mitchell Elhard on March 1, 1998; and lastly Katelynn Grace Golby-Larson on April 27, 2001.

 

When Mom retired from the hospital, she helped her children raise their children. She was always there to help us when we needed her. Our kids spent many days on the farm, playing inside and out under the watchful eye of "Mama" as most of her grandkids called her.

 

Her grandchildren were the light of her life. An avid sewer, she made each grandchild their very own quilt. Those became my kids' favourite blankets, and therefore had to go back to Mama's for patching a time or two. She liked to make clothes for my kids when they were young as I didn't sew at all. She made Lacey a cute little! shirt and pants set with dalmatians on it, though when she completed it she realized her error: the dalmatians were right side up on the pants, but upside down on the t-shirt.

 

When the time came to slow down and step back from farming, Mom and Dad decided to move to Castor. Dad was working for crop insurance and helping on the farm, while Mom decided to begin a new venture. She reopened a restaurant on main street in Castor called Subs & Soda. Many hours were spent down there serving the coffee crowd in the morning and the high school students at lunch. At that time there were seven places to eat in Castor, so the competition was stiff. Mom still made it work.

 

After some time, Mom and Dad decided to move back out to the farm. They sold the Castor house and moved into a mobile home just south of the main house. Moving back meant more chickens, turkeys, and another garden, although on a much smaller scale.

 

Ken, Shelley and the kids lived in the main house when Mom and Dad moved back to the farm, so Mom got to see Bailey and Miles regularly. Val and I also spent a lot of time at the farm with our kids, helping Mom with chickens or the garden, or just dropping them off while we went to work.

 

After Shelley bought a house in Coronation, Mom and Dad were on the move again. This time it was only a stone's throw away- to the main house. They lived there for the next while, before finally deciding to sell the farm and move back to Castor.

 

This move was all hands on deck. Stock trailers, pick-ups and any vehicle with space loaded up and headed to Castor. One vehicle unloaded, the next one backed up, and then back to the farm for more. Payment was cold beer and Chinese food.

 

After living in Castor for a while, kitchen renovations began, and Mom got a break from cooking. Apparently, it was a bit too long of a break, as she said "Eating out every day gets old in a hurry."

Retirement seemed to agree with both Mom and Dad. Mom spent many hours in her sewing room making "ugly quilts" from scrap material for the church to send to the city for the homeless.

 

Dad's health declined and Mom made frequent trips to Red Deer with the family, as she was never a city driver. In October of 2013, Dad passed away, leaving his bride of 51 years on her own for the first time. Mom kept busy with friends and family, going out with her sisters-in-law and friends to Little Theatre and other things. Lots of time was spent around the kitchen table, visiting with anybody who stopped by.

 

After Mom's stroke in April of this year, she was on the move again. After a few hospital stays and a short stay at the Lodge, Val and I made the decision that long-term care would be best for Mom. However, she must have had a plan for herself. We think she heard someone mention "long-term care" and said to herself "Oh hell no!"

 

Mom will be very missed by her children: Kevin (Donna Janvier), Ken Golby, Vicki (Doug) Parks, Valerie (Jim) Gonda, and daughter-in-law Shelley as well as her grandchildren Miles (Jen) Golby and their kids Malia and Kyler; Bailey (Jeff Hamm) and their daughter Layton; Brandon; Kyle and his kids Callum, Celine, and Quinn; Lacey; William and his daughter Ennalie; and Katelynn, as well as her brother Raymond, brothers-in-law Clarence (Donna), Larry (Donna), Roger (Sherry), Brian (Kathy), Al (Cheryl), as well as many nieces, nephews and close friends.

 

Mom was predeceased by her husband Ed, parents Mary and Louis, parents-in-law, Marie and Bill Golby, brothers-in-law Leonard Golby and Donald Fawcett, sister-in-law Laura, sister Florence, brother Edward, and grandson Jesse.

 

Memorial contributions on behalf in Mom's memory may be made to Paintearth Lodge or Our Lady of the Rosary Hospital Castor.

Private family services were held in Annette’s memory.