Grace Elizabeth Sass

Grace Elizabeth Sass (nee Allen) left this life suddenly the evening of March 13th, 2016. Grace was born on the Anderson homestead in Harris, Saskatchewan on February 28, 1920. Her formative years were spent between the family farm home in Cheviot and the city of Saskatoon. She and her sister Alice and brother George attended King George School. During the 30's her schooling was suspended leaving Grace with only a Grade 9 education. This didn't hold her back. With her determination to be informed and her love of reading, she kept up on Canadian and world events/politics, a passion she shared with her father. 1937 was the toughest year on the farm as the weather was so bad the farm only produced enough seed for the next year, leading the family to relief and a diet of prunes, dried apricots and her father's home cured bacon.

In 1943 Grace enlisted in the Army with a discharge in 1945 due to the death of her father. In 1947 Grace moved to Chilliwack and then travelled to San Francisco in 1949, eventually settling in Vancouver BC from 1950-53. She met one of the loves of her life, Walter Hanson in 1955, married him in 1956 and they started a family in Wynyard Sk. In 1960 Walter Hanson died of Pancreatic Cancer. Soon thereafter one of her army buddies introduced her to the second love of her life, John Sass. They were married in 1962 and moved to the Peace River Country (Rolla, BC) to run their grain farming business.

In 1974 Grace & John sold the farm and retired to the beautiful Shuswap Lake to pursue their hobbies of fishing and gardening. John predeceased her in 1982, and Grace continued to live in Blind Bay until 1989, when she started to spend more time in Vancouver with her daughter Beverly. In her 70's, 80's & 90's she did some travelling to her favorite spots, Hawaii and San Francisco to visit her Aunt Jessie, as well as local area hot springs and Victoria. Grace was a kind and gentle soul with a spark for life; she loved many games and activities. Grace was the last in her generation of the Allens. She lost her beloved sisters Lorraine (1946) and Alice (2008), brother George (2009), father Wilfred (1945) and mother Elizabeth (1992).

Grace's love will be remembered and her memory cherished by her son and daughter and their families: Ken Sass of Blind Bay, granddaughter Natasha Schultz-Sass of Calgary, and Beverly Sass (Darrell Mahowich) of Vancouver. She will also be fondly remembered by all her nieces and nephews, their families and her friends.

Arrangements under the direction of Henderson's Langley Funeral Home, Langley, BC.

Grace did not want a service and to honor this request we will have a viewing at Henderson's Funeral Home for those who want to pay their respects to Grace with a casual gathering at the home of Beverly Sass and Darrell Mahowich on Thursday March 17, 2016.
The interment of cremated remains will be in the summer of 2016 in Salmon Arm, BC.