Leona Irene Cory
September 29, 1921- January 8, 2019
As published in the January 14, 2019 World-Spectator
It is with a mixture of sadness and acceptance that we announce the passing of Leona Irene Cory formerly of Scarth, Manitoba, Shaunavon, Saskatchewan, Sandwith, Saskatchewan, and Virden, Manitoba where she has resided since 1981. She passed peacefully at WestMan Nursing Home, Virden on January 8, 2019.
Leona Cory, formerly Leona Osman, nee Leona Barker, was born near Shaunavon, Saskatchewan September 29, 1921 to John (Jack) and Emily Barker who had moved to the Prairies from southern Ontario around the end of World War One.
She lived there on a farm until she was eleven. She remembered Grassy Creek School, many friends, and kindly neighbours. She also remembered the dust storms, the Great Depression, low commodity prices, and unpayable loans all of which, combined with too much confidence in the 1920’s, bankrupted their family farm in the early 1930’s.
At age eleven she moved with her family north to Hillside (about thirty miles NE of North Battleford) Saskatchewan. There her Dad and Mom slowly, with courage and a strong work ethic, rebuilt life.
In 1936 her brother Ralph was born. Then came the war years.
In 1944 she married Arthur Joseph Osman, whose parents had also gone into farm bankruptcy near Golden Prairie, Saskatchewan, for similar reasons, and had moved north in the 1930’s.
Their children were born; Carole, Donald, Linda, and Shirley. Art and Oney worked hard on a small mixed farm starting with a couple of cows and a couple of horses.
They lived in an old log house (shack) near Sandwith, Saskatchewan. Their children have many fond memories of life in that necessarily simpler time. So much was done the hard way. Rewards were small and the memories of the thirties, the difficulty of getting credit, and fear, likely stemming from earlier life experiences, held them back. Selflessly they gave to their children, pushing for an education and a work ethic necessary for success.
At a New Year’s Dance in Medstead on December 31, 1965 at the age of forty-four, Leona lost Arthur to an unexpected heart attack. She carried on, with help from family members and a caring community, until 1968 when she sold the farm operation and moved to the Virden area to marry Donald James Cory.
Donald had lost his wife in 1960 and had two children; Donna and John. Donald James Cory was comfortably established. Less work, more money, a great garden and more crafting time made Leona’s life much easier in so many ways. They retired into Virden from the farm at Scarth in 1981.
Leona lost her husband Donald, to a heart attack in 2002. She continued in their home until 2007, when she moved to Evergreen Apartments. She moved from there to The Sherwood Home in the spring of 2012, and spent her final years in WestMan. During her nursing home years, she always wanted to go home. That concept, with dementia, was not too clear. We pray she is there now.
She was predeceased by her parents, her daughter Carole, her daughters-in-law, Donna and Linda Osman, (not her daughter Linda), sisters-in-law, Nona Williams and Joan Leduc, brother-in-law Archie Leduc, brother Ralph, and husbands above mentioned.
She was also predeceased by her dear cousin Florence whom she thought of as a sister and Florence’s husband Jim. Florence and Jim are survived by their four children, their spouses and descendants.
Leona is survived by sisters-in-law Marie Arpad and Wendy Barker, children above mentioned and their partners Raymond, Larry, Jerry and Ursula.
She is survived by 12 grandchildren and 31 great-grandchildren, three nieces (predeceased by one) and two nephews (predeceased by one) and many extended family members, direct and via spouses including many still in Ontario and around the world. She is remembered by many friends and other acquaintances who knew her as “the Avon Lady”.
Arrangements are in care of G.R. Carscadden Funeral Chapel, Virden, Manitoba. Interment will take place in Deloraine Cemetery, Deloraine, Manitoba. Her life will be celebrated in the summer of 2019, at a date to be announced.
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