Prudence Wheeldon CRAIB

CRAIB, Prudence Wheeldon
Died on February 13, 2016, in the company of and supported by her beloved spouse of 37 years, Patricia Hill, her son Brian Craib Wheeldon (June), her daughters Laura Hill and Barbara Hill, and granddaughter Jenna Hill-Murphy. Lifelong friends Maureen Fraser and Sally Wills also provided loving support during the year long challenges posed by myelodysplasia (cancer of the bone marrow). Prue is also survived by her dear brother Philip (Rose) who live in South Africa. Prue was born in 1932 in South Africa to loving and liberal parents. She studied Social Anthropology at the University of Cape Town, and taught this discipline at the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in Harare for a decade before immigrating to Canada in 1967. Thereafter she taught Sociology at Simon Fraser University in BC and Trent University in Ontario, in the mature student sections of these universities whenever possible. In her final professional decade, she worked on management training in the halcyon days of BNR and Nortel. After retirement, she volunteered for a sustained period in the early 2000's at the First Unitarian Congregation in Ottawa, and more recently with the LGBT Ottawa Senior Pride Network. She was a voracious reader and pursued a rich set of crafts and arts over her lifetime, including clothing design, quilting, stained glass, and calligraphy, all at which she excelled. In the last five years, Prue loved her art lessons with Val Roos and was an ardent painter. Prue and Pat created a blended family when they joined forces in 1978 and the family remains strong and lovingly supportive, especially in the final period of Prue's life. The family wishes to acknowledge with profound gratitude the health services proved by Dr. M Sabloff and Leah of the Ottawa General Hematology Department, and Dr. Cross, Dr. Bright and their colleagues at the Ottawa Palliative Care Network. She was given respectful and compassionate care by the wonderful staff of May Court Hospice in her final days, for which we are also deeply grateful. In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate contributions to Hospice Care Ottawa - May Court Hospice, 114 Cameron Ave. Ottawa Ontario K1S 0X1. She will be sorely missed. There will be a Celebration of Life on Friday, April 22, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. at First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa, 30 Cleary Ave, Ottawa.