GARLAND: Irene Mary Garland, age 77 years, of Swift Current, SK, passed away April 17, 2011 at the Swift Current Care Centre. The funeral service was held at 2:00 P.M., Thursday, April 21, 2011 at the First United Church with Reverend Bonita Chad officiating. The organist was Patti McCleary and Ruby Wotherspoon presented a eulogy. The ushers were Doug Murchie, Gary Higginson, Bob Medforth and Larry Caswell and the active pallbearers were: Kaare Christensen, Landon Small, Scott Garland, Kyle Garland, Ryan Jackson and Bryan Acaster. The honorary pallbearers were: Lindsay Jackson, Erin Acaster, Alicia McCarthy, Kellie Garland, Ryan Small and Andrew Garland. Irene is survived by: her husband Bruce of 57 years; children:

daughter Heather (Wayne) Christensen, granddaughter Lindsay (Ryan) Jackson, great grandchildren Daryn and Holden; grandson Kaare (Jodi) Christensen;

daughter Beverley (Allan) Small, grandson Ryan (Natissa) Small, great grandchildren Loki and Madea, grandson Landon (Danielle) Small, great grandchild Brooke;

daughter Barbara (Mike) McCarthy, granddaughter Erin (Bryan) Acaster and great grandchild Mia;

son David (Karen) Garland, grand children Scott Garland and Kellie Garland, granddaughter Kathleen (Neil) Jesske and great grandson Evan, granddaughter Sheila Garland;

son William (Patty) Garland, grandson's Kyle and Andrew Garland;

Son Rodney (Wendy) Garland, grandson Jamie (Christy) Garland and great grandchildren Devon and Ashley, granddaughter Jennifer (Tim) Berg and great grandchildren Hunter, Peyton and Ella, grandson Chris (Steph) Garland and great grandchildren Paisley and Easton.


Irene Mary was born in Swift Current on May 12, 1933, fourth child of George and Lena Gledhill; sister to Bill, Jessie, Doreen and George. She attended Elmwood, Central, St. Patricks, SCCI and Commercial schools. She had fond memories and talked often of her work at the Swift Current Union Hospital from 1952 to 1954. On February 6, 1954 she married Bruce Garland, the love of her life, at the First United Church and moved to the farm at Success. She loved farm life and excelled at being a farmer's wife. She loved spring with the newborn
calves, lambs, piglets and kittens......crocuses and dandelions, robins and meadow larks and even gophers (which she kept from Dad). Her favorite time of day was evenings and sitting on the back step at the farm to watch the sunset. She was a night owl and enjoyed the quiet of the night to read into the wee, small hours. Harvest was a special time of year for her and in the early years, she hauled full meals to the field for Dad and Grandad with a number of her kids tagging along. We have wonderful memories of playing in the dirt and having harvest picnics beside the grain truck. She loved babies, kids, animals and old people......thunderstorms and a cool breeze blowing in her bedroom window no matter the season. She woke up occasionally with snow on her head or the water frozen in her glass.
She was an encouragement to her children throughout their school years, Sunday school, Brownies, 4-H and sports. In the early 70's, the family bought a cabin at Clearwater Lake and she loved being surrounded by her kids and grandkids. Many hours were spent playing scrabble, tending to campfires and cooking hotdogs and roasting marshmallows, "floating fireboats" on the lake and treating grandkids to poptarts.
Her kids and grandkids had the pleasure of feeding the geese on the beach. Mom always had a bag of bread to share and it was such fun for everyone to watch the geese battle over these little treats. In 1990 Bruce & Irene moved to Swift Current where Mom continued to take pleasure in being surrounded by family for Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving and other holidays. She loved cooking and as soon as one meal was finished she was planning the next. She enjoyed many
afternoons going over recipes with her daughters as well as the Sears catalogue. The last ten years were difficult. She was in eleven hospitals and graded them according to the quality of meals they served her. She felt so safe and secure with Dad managing her care on a 24/7 basis. She kept telling him the last couple of weeks before passing, that he really should get a new jacket and it wouldn't hurt to get a dog to keep him company. She was always looking out for his best interests and loved him deeply. She didn't have a prejudiced bone in her body and raised us to respect people for who they are. She had a deep faith and in later years took great comfort in reading her little prayer books. She was caring, kind, self-less, generous, forgiving, had a wicked sense of humor and was always young at heart. Memorial donations to the Shrine Hospital Fund, Wa Wa Shrine Centre, 2065 Hamilton St. Regina, SK S4P2E1 or to the Humane Society, Box 1136, Swift Current, SK S9H3X3, would be appreciated by the family. Warren's funeral Home were entrusted with the arrangemnts. For further information call (306) 773-8832 or visit our website at www.warrensfuneralhome.com and express your sympathy to family members in our book of condolences.