Obituary of Florence Banerd

<p>The family of Florence Banerd of Calgary, AB,formerly of Saskatoon & Melville,&nbsp; widow of Alvin Banerd sadly announce her passing on Saturday, February 11, 2023. Florence was 80 years of age.</p><p>The Funeral Service will be held on Monday, February 27th at 1:30p.m. from First United Church, Melville.</p><p>The interment will take place in the Melville Municipal Cemetery.</p><p>Florence Banerd (nee McLellan) left us peacefully, to be reunited with her beloved husband, Alvin (Al) in heaven on Saturday, February 11, 2023 at Garrison Green Care Home, Calgary, Alberta at the age of 80 years old.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Lilly Adella Florence, known to all as Flo/Florence, was born on September 20, 1942 in the St. Peter&rsquo;s Hospital in Melville, SK to Conmee and Lylla (nee Watson) McLellan.&nbsp; She was the third of four children in this family.</p><p>Florence grew up on a farm near Fenwood, attending Greenbush School, and later moved into Melville where she attended the Melville Jr/Sr High School.&nbsp; She completed Grade 11 and went on to work at the Coop Creamery in Melville.&nbsp; She attended the First United Church and was part of the choir and UCW.&nbsp; Florence adored her older brothers Lloyd and Larry, and her younger sister Mavis.</p><p>At her sister Mavis&rsquo; wedding, Florence met the love of her life, Alvin Banerd, known to all as &ldquo;Al&rdquo;.&nbsp; Al and Florence were married on her 21st Birthday, September 20, 1963.&nbsp; They were blessed with two children, Denise and Gary.&nbsp; Al and Florence spent their days traveling and camping with their best friends, Dennis & Sharon, Gerry & Betty, Ken & Fran, Don & Olive, Rose, Peter and Jerry. &nbsp; They loved to have fun with their friends and family, playing cards, laughing, and just being together.&nbsp; Al and Flo never missed a family function, wedding, dance, or a loved one&rsquo;s funeral.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>As Denise and Gary got older,&nbsp; Al and Florence supported each of their goals and dreams.&nbsp; Together, they attended Denise&rsquo;s music festivals and concerts, figure skating competitions and various other achievements.&nbsp; They followed Gary&rsquo;s sporting activities, traveling across the country for his hockey, football, and fastball championships, always cheering him on with pride and enthusiasm.&nbsp; Being devoted to family, they loved to cheer on and support their children in everything.&nbsp; Al and Flo also loved to get together daily with their coffee group at the various coffee shops in Melville.&nbsp; Watching curling was a huge passtime for the two of them, and especially for Flo, once Al passed on.</p><p>Florence loved gardening, canning, and preserving fruits and vegetables.&nbsp; She especially loved picking berries and making canned fruit, jam, and jelly.&nbsp; Most Friday evenings, Florence would mix up a batch of her overnight buns, so her family would wake up Saturday mornings to the sweet aroma of delicious fresh buns and homemade jam.&nbsp; Florence was known for her &ldquo;ooey, gooey, cinnamon buns&rdquo; that you could not eat &ldquo;just one&rdquo; of!&nbsp; Florence never left home to visit anyone without taking all of their favorite baking and homemade treats!&nbsp; Denise would get her pumpkin cake, Gary his matrimonial cake, the Banerd granddaughters a huge roaster of cabbage rolls and the Steinke children, Grayson sausage and fresh homemade perogies.&nbsp; We will all miss these special gifts of love from Grandma!</p><p>Grandma Flo was always game for anything and everything.&nbsp; She always said &ldquo;Grandma Flo goes with the flow&rdquo;.&nbsp; Florence was faithful to be in attendance to watch as much of her grandchildren&rsquo;s activities.&nbsp; Grandpa and Grandma Flo drove for hours to watch MacKenzie&rsquo;s dance recitals, Caden&rsquo;s hockey games, Kylee and Tenley&rsquo;s ringette and ballgames, music festivals, recitals, and swimming accomplishments for MacKinna and Keeson.&nbsp; Each grandchild cherishes the numerous afghans that Grandma Flo crocheted especially for each of them.</p><p>MacKenzie, Caden, MacKinna, Kylee, Keeson and Tenley, made Florence a Grandma; but Hezekiah made Grandma &ldquo;GREAT&rdquo;.&nbsp; She absolutely LOVED him.&nbsp; Looking at her &ldquo;Angel&rdquo; (that is the name she gave to precious Hezi) would bring the biggest smile to her face.&nbsp; She would talk to his pictures and be entertained by the many videos MacKenzie sent her.&nbsp; She loved him with every piece of her!</p><p>Outside of caring for her children, grandchildren, Florence ran a Daycare in their home for many years and was known to each of those children as &ldquo;Auntie Flo&rdquo;.&nbsp; The children were all treated as her very own and still communicated with them, as of late.&nbsp; She enjoyed baking, crafts, walks to parks, and taking them on little outings as well.&nbsp;</p><p>Florence loved flowers, always having many antique pots that overflowed with petunias, geraniums, and multitudes of annuals that filled their deck and backyard with a tapestry of color.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Florence recently celebrated an early 80th birthday together with her entire family in August, outside of the Rockyview General Hospital in Calgary, overlooking the Glenmore Reservoir.&nbsp; As the evening outside ended, we were all blessed by the most beautiful sunset as the sun laid to rest in the beautiful Rocky Mountains.&nbsp; Each one of us will forever treasure those special memories on that day.&nbsp; It was the last time that we were all together.</p><p>Florence is survived by and leaves to mourn, her daughter, Denise (Brian) Steinke of Calgary, AB and her son, Gary (Carrie) of Saskatoon, SK.&nbsp; Her six &ldquo;Precious Angels&#39;, aka &lsquo;grandchildren&rsquo;, MacKenzie (Angosom) Tekheste, Caden, MacKinna & Keeson Steinke, Kylee and Tenley Banerd, and her precious Great Grandson, Hezekiah Tekheste, Grandma Flo&rsquo;s &ldquo;Angel&#39;&#39; on earth.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Florence leaves behind her sister-in-law Doreen McLellan, her brother-in-law, Bob Wolfe, numerous nieces and nephews, cousins and dear friends. Florence is predeceased by her loving husband Alvin Banerd, both of her parents, her step father Tony Haljeski, Father-in-law John Banerd, Mother-in-law Mary Banerd, brothers Lloyd and Larry,&nbsp; sister Mavis, sisters-in-law Mary McLellan, Edith Volk (Banerd) and Ursel Banerd; brothers-in-law Harold and Arnold Banerd, Paul Hendricks; nephews Larry Banerd and Lorne McLellan.</p><p>A Memorial Service to celebrate Florence&rsquo;s Life will be held on Monday, February 27 at 1:30 pm at the First United Church in Melville, SK.&nbsp; Lunch will follow in the United Church basement and intermittent will follow at the Melville Cemetery.&nbsp;</p><p>The family would especially like to thank:</p><p>Aleze Peters for her tender, loving one-on-one care that she gave to Flo, making it possible for Flo to stay in her home at Brian and Denise&rsquo;s as long as she did.&nbsp;</p><p>The staff at Amica Aspen Woods</p><p>The medical staff at Rockyview General Hospital for their excellent medical care</p><p>The staff on the 3rd floor at Garrison Green CareWest Care Home in Calgary for their love and care.</p>