1921 - 2011
Jean Gwendoline Sidwell passed away in Yellowknife on August 4, 2011 at Stanton Hospital in Yellowknife after a short illness.
Jean was born on September 21, 1921 in Sheho, Saskatchewan to Jessie and Charles Prouse. After high school, Jean attended Normal School in Saskatoon to train as a teacher.
Jean's first teaching post was in North Bend, Saskatchewan. It was here where she met and married her husband Grant Sidwell on December 30, 1941. While Grant served overseas in WWII Jean taught in Nipawin, Saskatchewan.
In 1953 Jean and Grant moved to Ashcroft, B.C., where they lived for 40 years, and raised their family. Jean assisted Grant in his Jewellery Store. In 1963 Jean began teaching at Ashcroft Secondary School, where she worked as a teacher and a counselor until her retirement in 1982.
Jean was predeceased by her husband Grant in 1993, brother Charles in 2006 and sister Charlotte in 1936. Jean leaves behind her daughters Shirley (Allan) Fukushima of Merritt, B.C., Janet (Kevin) Grinsted of Yellowknife, NWT, son Stephen Sidwell (Naoko) of Sanyo-Onoda, Japan and grandchildren Grant, Leah, Brian, Roya, Kevin, Akira, Sean and great grandchildren Logan, Riley and Layla.
After Grant's death, Jean spent several years living in Merritt with her daughter Shirley and the recent years living in Yellowknife with daughter Janet.
Jean was laid to rest in the Lakeview Cemetery in Yellowknife, NWT on August 9, 2011.