Evelyn Joyce Biagioni

We lost someone special today, April 12, 2023. Our mom Evelyn (Sandy) Biagioni has been reunited with our dad Elmo, our brother Mark, many beloved family members and dear friends to continue her journey. Although she is gone, her thoughts will continue to be with us. She will remind us to love, be kind and to feel for others less fortunate and to always do the right thing.

Mom was born in Mission BC, on April 2nd, 1929 as the only child of Cameron and Myrtle Alexander. She spent her formative years in Mission accumulating lifelong friends before moving to Kamloops in her early teens. After finishing high school, Mom joined the workforce with jobs at BC Tel, Eatons and Woodwards.

It was in her early twenties that she met a young Italian stallion named Elmo and convinced him that his life would be better enhanced if he became her forever partner. Dad did not need much convincing. They married in September 1949. They were still going strong 69 years later until Dad’s passing.

Mom started her family with the birth of their first child Sherry, then Robbie and to show that God has a sense of humor, along came Mark, 19 years later! Oops, how did that happen was her many friends laughing reaction to her news.

Mom had some unique parenting skills. From going full samurai warrior, flipping Mark on his back on the kitchen floor (Mark was 6’5” at the time) demanding he give her back the $20 he had taken from her purse, to being Susie Homemaker, sewing sequins on Sherry’s skating dress (Sherry was still in the dress) as she was about to take the ice for her warmup. Definitely old school. Those were some of the many memories often fondly recalled around Sunday dinners.

Ah, Sunday dinners. The lifeblood of our home. Mom was a fantastic cook. She provided dinner for anyone who was around on Sunday, from family, friends and the odd stray. It didn’t matter, you were welcome in her home. Always encouraging you to have seconds but save room for dessert. Besides Sunday dinners, Mom also operated the Biagioni Bistro which was open every day to anyone who was in need of coffee or conversation.

In addition to being a wife and mother, Mom found time to be a secretary, seamstress, costume designer and event coordinator for Kamicecades with the Mount Paul Skating Club (now Kamloops Skating Club). She also volunteered at St. Anne’s School Academy. Mom also contributed to many pot luck dinners and other social functions over the years to help others.

Mom had a wonderful sense of humor. When she got back her DNA results she couldn’t wait to tease her lifelong friend Doris, the self-proclaimed Queen of Norway, that she, herself was 10% Norwegian and Doris now had competition for the title of Queen.

Further to being a wife to Elmo, she was a mother to Sherry, Robbie and Mark. She was a mother-in-law to John and Laura, a nana to Jesse, Casey (Brian), Steve (Jessica), Kurt (Maggie), and Mark (Megan), a great nana to Abigail, Andrew, Allison, Avery, Barrett, Brooklyn, Tala, Kona, Theo and Penny, and of course her favorite, Reacher. There are also many loved ones in her extended family and friends that are mourning her loss but rejoicing in the memory of being enriched by her presence in their lives.

Losing a loved one like Mom makes you realize that without love there would be no grief. The grief we are feeling now is the result of the unconditional love we have for our Mom. RIP Mom, we’ll miss you but will be thinking of you every day.

The family would like to thank Dr. Loland for his kindness and empathy not only in this trying time but for his ongoing care for Mom through the years. Also, a shout out and thank you to the emergency staff, the nurses, care aids and LPN’s on 7th north at Kamloops RIH during her stay, your care and compassion did not go unappreciated. Also, thank you to the staff of Marjorie Willoughby Snowden Memorial Hospice, even though Mom was not there very long, they provided a warm and homey resting place for Mom in her final hours.

Goodbye Mom, until we meet again.

There will not be a service as per Mom’s wishes but we will have a celebration of her life with an Irish wake at a later date.