Thursday, July 9, 2020
Jean Kettles, or Aunt Jean, as I've known her all my life, was my mother Tena's older sister and best friend. I grew up in Ontario and every summer of my childhood and into my teens we'd visit Aunt Jean in Brandon or she'd visit us in Guelph. Every year she sent us Christmas presents and she and my mother wrote letters weekly and in later years, called each other daily. Aunt Jean even drove all the way from Brandon to Guelph for my wedding in 2001, a distance of 3000 kilometres, with her cousin Velma. Aunt Jean was always so kind. She could play the piano by ear, loved reading, and loved her garden. One of my first memories is Aunt Jean lifting me up onto her horse Frosty. In her sixties, a strange man came to the barn where she was alone tending to her horse. He stole her purse, tied Aunt Jean up, locked the barn, and stole her car! Somehow she made it out of the barn, flagged down a passing car, the police were notified, and the man was caught. Right up until the end Aunt Jean was fully alert and smart as ever, always happy to talk on the phone. It was incredible how she stayed so strong and smart until almost her 97th birthday. I will miss her greatly!
