Obituary of Melba Mary Melba Stevenson

STEVENSON, M. Melba Melba passed away peacefully on March 30, 2009 at Kinmara Home where she had resided happily for the past twelve years. She was 95 years old. Melba was born in Riverhurst/Lawson district in Saskatchewan where she was brought up. She stayed on the farm and took care of her invalid mother and was the housewife substitute until she was 28 years old. Music always played a central role in her life and during the Depression she and her brother Keith (Rusty) went all over the area playing for dances in community halls and country schools " Melba on the piano and Rusty on the saxophone. At 28 years of age she attended Normal School in Regina where she received her teaching credentials. She taught for two years in the Vermillion and Riverhurst school districts and then moved to Regina where she taught for the next 31 years. She was a much beloved and admired elementary school teacher. She always had a piano in her classroom and usually produced a good chorus of first and second Graders, as well as teaching the three Rs. Melba spent one year as an exchange teacher in the Sidney, NS school district, where she received accolades from the School Board for her service there. For many years she spent her holidays at her cottage at Regina Beach, where she had many friends. She was active in the IODE and a member of the Rebecca Lodge #43. She had a long retirement and was an avid Bridge player. She kept up her music with a keyboard piano. Even when dementia took its toll, she could always pick up a tune and play it. She is predeceased by her parents, Earnest and Winnifred Stevenson of Lawson; brothers, Herb and Keith (Rusty) of Regina. She leaves a sister, Kathryn (Tinka) Armstrong, nephews, Bruce and Winston Armstrong, all of California, John Armstrong of South Carolina; two nieces, Leah Roney of Summerland, BC and Erin Stevenson of Saskatoon; as well as four great-nieces and four great-nephews. Her family wishes to extend their thanks to the owners and employees of Kinmara Home for the loving care they gave Melba over the past twelve years. There will be no funeral service. Friends so wishing may make donations, in memoriam, to a charity of choice. Her ashes will reside in a niche in Regina Memorial Gardens. An online book of condolences may be signed at www.speersfuneralchapel.com