Katherine Lena McQuarrie

Katherine was born on a farm in Richmond, Saskatchewan to August and Katherina (nee Roetter) Ingenthron. She was near the bottom of a long line of children, twelve to be exact: six brothers and five sisters.

She always spoke of how poor they were and of the many many farm chores to do. Katherine grew up and left the farm at the very young age of 16, to live with her sister in the Washington, helping care for her sister’s two young boys. After several years she moved to Calgary, where she became a housekeeper and where she met Bill. They fell in love and where married on June 30, 1955. Debbie was born on August 7, 1957.Then they waited and waited, Denise was born on November 4, 1968.

Katherine sewed clothes, gardened, and worked at Woolworths and then Kmart. She was very resourceful using the knowledge she gained from growing up with very little, to spend carefully, take good care of everything and reusing what you can while saving for a rainy day.

Katherine was to lose the love of her life, Bill, from cancer on March 21, 1982. It crushed her, and she grieved for a long time. But as time went on she found strength in friends and family. She discovered cruises and was always looking for a new location to visit. She went on about 10 of them and loved them all. Katherine kept busy bowling, going out with the girls, joined the legion for lunches and dances. Of course bingo was a big event and spent many afternoons at Thorncliff and other bingo spots. She enjoyed playing cards at Corpus Christi. During this time she moved to a smaller home, where she lived for 20 years.

Katherine had three grandchildren; Stephanie, Lindsie and Ryan and attended many of their school, sporting events, birthdays or special occasions. She has one great granddaughter, Esme. And loved to FaceTime and watch Esme videos.

Katherine had brain bleed in August 2016 where she almost died. There was an angel looking out for her during this time. She had a craniotomy. She recovered as good as new. But in the process she developed a blood clot in her leg. But there was nothing that stopped her from thinking things would get better. “I can do this” she said. It was a long recovery. It was then that she knew she needed to sell her house to have a bit more care. She chose Sagehill Retirement Residence to be her new home.

Katherine enjoyed all the activities and the helpful staff. They would brighten her day and she would try to brighten theirs. With a kind word or a friendly quip if she could think of one.

It was during COVID, that she noticed a lump on her neck. Dr. Julie helped to navigate the difficulties that now arose. Katherine was diagnosed with Large-B- Cell Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She was treated with radiation, but a growth developed on the other side and metastasized into her pelvis. This was very painful and eventually sent her to Peter Lougheed Hospital where she passed away.

Mom your pain is over. You will be missed.

Katherine is lovingly remembered by her daughters; Debbie (Harvey) Fairfield, Denise (Dave) Sledzinski, grandchildren; Stephanie and Ryan Fairfield, Lindsie (Steven) Pratt, great granddaughter Esme and grand fur baby Soji. She leaves behind a sister Irene (Adrian) Ooms, sister-in-law Mary Sevens and numerous nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews. Katherine was predeceased by her husband Bill of 27 years and brothers and sisters; Anne (Art) Steinkey, Jack (Jean) Ingenthron, George, Ralph (Rhoda) Ingenthron, Nick (Julia) Ingenthron, Ethel (Mike) Striefel, Joe (Anne) Ingenthron, Rose (Joe) Lambrecht, Elizabeth, brother-in-law Allan (Doris) McQuarrie and nephews Bill and Rick McQuarrie.

A special thank you to Darlene and Carolyn, Katherine’s nieces and the staff of Unit 43 of the Peter Lougheed Hospital and all the staff at Sagehill Retirement Residence.

A Private Family Service will be held with interment to follow at Queen’s Park Cemetery.

If friends so desire, memorial donations may be made directly to Canadian Cancer Society at https://www.cancer.ca or Heart and Stroke Foundation https://www.heartandstroke.ca/.