Mary-Anne Hendel

She was born in 1922 in Red Deer Hill, Saskatchewan, to Percy Baker, an English World War 1 veteran, and Esthere Baker, his Belgian bride.

Mary-Anne was raised from the age of 2 by her maternal grandparents Jean-Baptiste and Alice Delree in Val-Saint-Lambert, Belgium. Jean-Baptiste was a glass blower in the town’s famed cristallerie and Alice was an early feminist who always made a point of bringing Mary-Anne along when she voted.

In 1938, speaking little English, all three fled Belgium for Saskatchewan, resisting pressure to work on her parents’ farm and instead settling in Prince Albert where she could complete Grade 12.

Ever a hard worker, Mary-Anne earned a bachelor’s degree and later took graduate-level correspondence courses while raising three children and working full-time as a teacher in Calgary. She instilled the value of education in her children and grandchildren, who understood the phrases “Do your work well”, “Always do your best”, and “Keep up the good work” to be her love language.

In retirement, Mary-Anne and her husband Ed visited dozens of countries on six continents. They also travelled Canada extensively, frequently driving from their home in Vancouver to the Arctic to learn about First Nations and Inuit culture.

Mary-Anne was a student for life, voraciously reading books on politics, science, history, and philosophy. She thought deeply, and, after learning to use a laptop computer in her late 80s, went online to read the national and international news every day.

Her children and grandchildren became regular recipients of emails that might, in one sentence, describe the local weather and its impacts on her beloved vegetable garden, and in the next, opine on human rights issues, the anti-war movement, or the challenges of cleaning and storing radioactive water following Japan’s nuclear disaster.

Mary-Anne lived through troubled times and remained enthusiastic and open-minded to the end. She cared deeply about the world and its inhabitants, and especially about her family, whom she loved profoundly. She showed tenderness only when it mattered the most – often with a kiss directly on the ear.

She is predeceased by her husband of 55 years, Ed, her brothers, John and Percy, and her son-in-law, Bob.

Remembering her with love and esteem are her three children, Philip (Isabelle), Mary-Jane, and Raymond (Cathy); her grandchildren, Michel (Alice), Martin (Sophie), J-P, Portia, Georges (Tiphaine), Emalie, Isabelle, Ericha, and Alexandar; and her great-grandchildren Olivier, Julie, and Loki.

The family would like to thank the staff and caregivers at Sherbrooke Community Centre for their dedicated support. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations would be appreciated to a cause of your choice supporting climate change research or Indigenous communities, Sherbrooke Community Centre (401 Acadia Dr. Saskatoon, SK) or to the CARG Program (Saskatoon Field House www.carg.ca). A celebration of Mary-Anne's life will be held later in the year.

Arrangements entrusted to Travis Minor.