Obituary of Sheila Jarvis

JARVIS Sheila Gerard Bentley

Peacefully, surrounded by her family who crossed continents, oceans and the city to be with her at the end, Sheila Jarvis passed away in London, Ontario on Wednesday, February 27, 2019 at 7:56 a.m. in her 99th year. Born on January 24, 1921 in Spey Bay, Scotland to Margaret and Frederick Bentley Cranch, Sheila met William Lawrence Jarvis of London, a radar operator with the RCAF, while serving with the Oxford Queen Alexandra Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve in India at the end of the Second World War. He so impressed her with his know-how in brewing a decent cup of tea outdoors, that she married him five weeks later and was soon whisked away to the wilds of Northern Ontario where Bill worked as a geologist at a Red Lake goldmine until 1967. A magnificent seamstress and tireless knitter, Sheila was always a romantic at heart and an instinctive ally of youth and artists of every stripe. She was instrumental in starting up and managing the Balmertown Frontier Library and also was the choir director and organist for the Anglican church in Red Lake. Sheila was unflagging in her support for all the generations of her offspring, perhaps most especially in their more impractical, artistic endeavours. Though they might not admit as much when they turned up on her doorstep, this was a grandmother who kids would cut classes to hang out with.

Sheila was predeceased by her husband Bill (1992). She will be deeply missed by her children, Margaret (Max Lucchesi), Bentley (Susan Davies), Kirtley (Herman Goodden) and Moray; her grandchildren, Emily Goodden, Anna Jarvis (Eddy Edgar), Michael Lucchesi (Danielle Alder), Hugh Goodden, Daniel Lucchesi, Bonnie Goodden and Simon Jarvis; and her great-grandchildren, Basil, Oscar and Odessa Scott, and Esme and Arnold Lucchesi.

Sheila’s family thanks the Dearness Home staff for their exceptional care. There will be a Celebration of Life and Interment for Sheila at the Woodland Mausoleum and Cemetery (493 Springbank Drive, London) on Saturday, March 2 at 10:00 a.m. Online condolences may be left at www.woodlandcemetery.on.ca