Josephine Inez Guest

To tell you the truth I had a hard time putting all my grandma s good traits into writing. No matter how hard I try, I can never do justice to what she overcame in her life. I know we are all grieving today for we all lost a great lady. But I know wherever she is now she s happy and contented with what she has left us.

She was a mother, sister, grandmother, great-grandmother and a friend to all of us. I m sure each and every one of you here today has something to share on how my grandma touched your life.

Grandma was born July 5, 1919, the oldest of six children born to George and Wilhelmina Caldwell. She took her schooling at Great West school, which she left at a young age when she was needed on the family farm to help raise her brothers and sister, till she met the love of her life. In 1943 grandma married my grandfather Lyle Guest, and they lived on the original homestead at Clearfield where they went on to have their four children, Raymond born in 1945, Gregory in 1948, Donna in 1949 and Lynden in 1951. In 1953 they purchased a farm north of Trossachs, where Grandma loved to help out with the daily farming activities. She enjoyed gardening, cooking, looking after the furnivall, watching the birds and raising her children. In 1974 Grandam took on the role of raising her grandson Kyle. On November 10, 1979 Grandpa passed away leaving my uncle Greg to take over the family farm, where she continued to live until health issues in 2008 forced her to move to Regina, where she lived with Kyle until they found her a place at Qu Appelle House in Regina, where she lived until her passing on June 1.

I have many memories of Grandma, I remember while growing up we would go to Grandma s house every summer for 2 weeks straight and we would go to Radville for swimming lessons, she probably got sick of us but we all faithfully went ever year without any complaints. Grandma never forgot a birthday, and that included her great-grandchildren, I remember her birthday list hanging under the toast magnet on the side of the fridge, adding to it every time a new great-grandchild arrived. Even if she never called you, you knew that she hadn t forgotten. And when it came to holidays, Christmas was not Christmas unless you were at Grandma s house on the farm because nobody cooked like Grandma, hers always tasted better and no wonder why, she had thousands of cookbooks and you all know that I am not exaggerating, you would be able to cook for 20 years and never use the same recipe twice with all her cookbooks, and if you ever needed to know anything about one of the R.M. s, just call grandma she had every R.M. book around. Grandma spent most of her day s later in her life reading books, it always amazed us that she would start a book in the morning and when the evening came she was almost done reading it already. She never wanted to miss a ball game on t.v., even the last day in the hospital she said "You know I am missing my ball game".

Grandma had her first heart attack in 2008 which nearly took her from us, but she fought through and told us that she wanted to see her great-grandchildren grow up and in the last 6 months she saw four more great-grandchildren come into her life. She was so proud of her 4 children, 10 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren, they were the loves of her life, her eyes would light up with excitement when any of them came to visit. Nothing made her happier than to see Kyle welcome his beautiful triplet girls into the world 2 months ago, something I think she was waiting for and completed her life.

Grandma was a lady with a big heart and very few words. She was a strong woman, maybe that s a quality I got from her, I sure hope so. She was also a good advisor, if I ever need to know something, especially about the kids just call grandma she always had the answer. She never liked asking for help but was always there to lend a hand, even in the hospital she said to Kyle, "I am supposed to be helping you out with those new babies, not you looking after me." Although she never got the chance, I think in her own way she was able to show us how important we all were to her. We may no longer see her, but we ll always have special moments we shared with her. She will always have a special part in our hearts.

In closing here is a poem that we thought was quite fitting, it goes like this:

Grandma,

A baby cradled in you arms

Teaching me your gentle charms

Growing up with you by my side

Learning from you never to lie

To understand and not judge too

Love and kindness I also learned from you

Through the years you watched me grow

Teaching me everything thing I need to know

Listening to every word you said

And every word I wrote you read

You ve been there for me to the end

Until the day for you, God did send

Now you watch me from up above

Shining down on me your heavenly love

I will miss you with all my heart

Thank you for being there from the start

Thank you for the gift of love

Now you re sharing it up above

You had many things to say

All in a caring way

You always saw the good in everyone

No matter what they ve done

You were always the one we could all lean on

Even though it must have felt like a ton

You were always the strength of the family

Now you must rest calmly

As we say our goodbye

As tears roll down our eyes

I know your place in heaven has a good view

Because your telling god

I need to keep an eye on a few

I know you will always be in our hearts and minds

So grandma,

I must go, but I ll never forget you re one of a kind.

Grandma we love you and will miss you beyond words.

Inez was predeceased by her parents, George and Wilhelmina Caldwell; her husband, Lyle Guest; grandson, Trevor Guest (1987); great grandson, Ethan Johnston (2009) and brothers, Ken, Lance and Lloyd Caldwell.

She is survived by her four children, Raymond (Delores) Guest of Brooks, AB, Greg (Betty) Guest of Yellow Grass, SK, Donna Johnston (Kevin) of Weyburn, SK and Lynden (Debbie) Guest of Trossachs, SK; grandchildren, Glenn (Theresa) Guest, Patrick (Janet) Guest, Michael (Lisa) Guest, Timothy (Pam) Guest, Elizabeth Guest, Max (Danielle) Johnston, Kyle (Amanda) Johnston, Candace (Dan) Schindel and Chris Johnston; great grandchildren, Jada, Jackson, Megan, Aiden, Evan, Wyatt, Liam, Emma, Alina, Tianna, Matthew, Teagan and Braeden; brother, Allan (Karen) Caldwell; sister, Jean (Phil) Stratulat; sisters-in-law, Rosland & Irene Caldwell as well as numerous nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.

A Funeral Service was held on Monday, June 6, 2011 at 2:00 PM from Fletcher Funeral Chapel,

Weyburn, Saskatchewan with Reverend M. Barnabas officiating. Interment followed in Trossachs Cemetery, Trossachs, Saskatchewan. A visitation was held on Sunday, June 5, 2011 from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM at Fletcher Funeral Chapel, Weyburn, Saskatchewan.

Donations in memory of Inez may be made to The Heart and Stroke Foundation

Arrangements under the direction of Fletcher Funeral Chapel, Weyburn, SK.