May 24, 1931 - January 20, 2022
It is with the utmost sadness that we announce the very sudden passing of Doreen Lillian Sinclair (beloved mother, grandmother, and aunt) on January 20, 2022. Last year, we celebrated Mom's 90th birthday with nine bottles of champagne - one for every decade. Due to Covid restrictions at the time, the drinking of that champagne was delayed until Christmas last year, when the extended family was finally able to reunite. We will all be forever grateful that Mom was here to spend a last wonderful Christmas with us.
Mom was born in 1931 in Ottawa, Ontario, where she attended Glebe Collegiate and trained to be a secretary. At a church dance at age 20, she met John Sinclair, a young army recruit who was stationed at CFB Petawawa. The couple married, started a family, and Mom began work as Executive Assistant to the Director of the National Museum of Man (now the Canadian Museum of Civilization). In the 70s, the Sinclair family moved to Bendigo, Australia for a total of seven fun and friend-filled years before settling back in Canada in Regina, Saskatchewan where Mom accepted work as the Research Librarian for the Saskatchewan Research Council. During these years, Mom attended the University of Regina and received her Associate's Degree, and became quite the grammarian. In 1992, Mom and Dad (who sadly passed in 2020) retired to Kelowna, BC, where they fully embraced their golden years. Mom enjoyed bowling, playing bridge, golfing, reading, gardening, travelling (especially to Hong Kong and California where her daughters lived), and hosting family reunions every summer. Mom made wonderful use of the days given to her; she loved special occasions and celebrations, being with family and friends, good food, good wine, and plenty of laughs. Truly, a life lived fully and well. She loved and was well loved.
Mom was predeceased by her husband of 70 years, John; her older brothers Gordy and Stan; her sister-in-law Alice; and her brother-in-law Billy. She is survived by her daughters Lynn and Jo-Anne (husband Bryan); grandchildren Kelly and Conor Smith (and father Ron) and Nik and Kate Mekechuck; sisters-in-law Myrna and Deanna; nieces Chris and Lora; nephews Bobby and Scottie; the best man at their wedding Gene; and many friends who, like us, wonder how we will go on living in a world without her loving and joyful presence.
"And when great souls die, after a period peace blooms, slowly and always irregularly. Spaces fill with a kind of soothing electric vibration. Our senses, restored, never to be the same, whisper to us. They existed. We can be. Be and be better. For they existed." - Maya Angelou.
Condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.springfieldfuneralhome.com.