Cliff Charlesworth

CHARLESWORTH, Cliff "Once upon a time I used to be single. But on New Year's Eve 1954 I met and fell in love with Marian (nee Small), who I married within the year and with whom I lived happily ever after. Or at least until now, which is over sixty years. We used to live in Winnipeg where we raised our family - Clinton, Jeffrey and Kimberley. They grew up, married (Lynn, Cathy and Greg) and raised families of their own so that we eventually had seven grandchildren (Chris, Amanda, Stacey; Katie, Krissy; Michael, Nicole) and six great grandchildren (Emily, Chloe, Olivia, Ethan, Bella and Claire) most of whom we rarely got to see because they lived in Australia. I used to be a school teacher and taught at all grade levels during my career in Flin Flon, and Winnipeg. Looking back, I think I most enjoyed the years when I first started and used to teach the children in elementary school. Of course during the summer holidays we used to pack up the family and go camping back and forth across Canada. There was no shortage of things to do when I retired. For years we used to golf and bike and canoe and ski and travel. We moved to Victoria to escape the frigid prairie winters but I couldn't escape the ravages of time. Our list of activities was gradually reduced to walking, reading, watching TV and playing bridge. Now I have reached another milestone. I used to live and breathe but that too is a thing of the past. I can only wonder - what's next? " Cliff passed peacefully on Sunday October 21 at Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria and is now off on his next great adventure.