August 29, 1927 - October 25, 2019
May she forever laugh and smile from above...
Christina Loretta Coulter was born in Coulter, Mantioba to Francis Gerald Coulter and Margaret Ellen Coulter (nee Fry) on August 29, 1927. The town was named after Christina's grandfather Francis Grey Coulter, an early pioneer in the area, who donated some of his land to the Arthur Pioneer's Association thus forming Coulter Park. Christina was the fifth child of eight children. She was particularly proud of all of her siblings and often spoke fondly of them throughout her life (Henry, Frances, Dorothy, Irene, Geraldine, Viola, and Elva).
In the 1930's, Christina's family moved to Inwood. Christina enjoyed a joyful childhood that included sports, tap dancing, and singing. When Christina was growing up, her family also lived in Stonewall, Stanley, and later in Winnipeg. While living in Winnipeg, Christina worked at the Bond & Ronald Candy Factory.
At a dance at the Crystal Palace in Winnipeg in May of 1948, Christina met the love of her life, Peter Mymryk. He bowed and asked Christina to dance. While dancing, Peter told her that she was the most beautiful woman in the world. By August 1948, Peter had asked Christina to marry him.
They hadn't been engaged long when Peter's grandma asked the couple to marry quickly. She and her husband wanted to see the wedding before they died. The two were wed on October 31, 1948 at St. John's United Church on Cathedral Avenue in Winnipeg. Christina and Peter's first dance was to the song "My Happiness". The happy couple built their own home with the help of family and friends on a farm in Ross.
In October of 1951, Christina gave birth to their daughter Patricia Margaret Ann Mymryk at St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg. Their family did everything together and both parents centered their lives around their daughter Patricia. Through the years, Christina remained close with her sister-in-law Gladys and Gladys' husband Len Simard. Sadly, Peter passed away in November of 1959 when Patricia was only eight years old.
Christina was left to care for her young daughter by herself. They moved in with Christina's sister Viola and
Viola's son Waynee and lived there until 1961. During this time, Christina worked in a clothing factory to
provide for herself and her daughter. Then, Christina and Patricia moved to Germany from 1961 to 1964 before returning to Canada.
When they returned to Canada, Christina and Patricia lived in Brandon. They then moved to Shilo before settling in Winnipeg. Christina and her daughter Patricia were best friends throughout both of their lives. In
1967, Patricia wed the love of her life, Wayne Lingholt. In the same year, Patricia and Wayne welcomed their daughter Stacey. Christina was delighted to become a grandmother.
In 1968, Christina met Gerard McIsaac who would later become her husband while working at the Winnipeg Tribune newspaper. Christina also worked as a babysitter for Gerard's son Daniel in Winnipeg. In 1969, Christina and Gerard moved to Victoria together. In 1970, Patricia, Wayne, and Stacey moved to Burnaby. That year, Patricia and Wayne welcomed their son Christian who was named after his grandmother Christina.
Christina and Gerard were wed on October 29, 1971 in Duncan. Christina's favourite part of her marriage to Gerard was becoming a step-mother to Gerard's son Daniel. In 1972, Christina and Gerard moved to New Westminster. By 1974, Christina and Gerard had moved to Dugan Lake near Williams Lake together.
Christina worked as a seamstress at the Boitanio Dry Cleaners in Williams Lake with her longtime friends Jessie Voth and Alice LeBlanc. Christina's co-worker and longtime friend Alice lived across the road. Christina often returned to Winnipeg to visit her family including her sisters, brother-in-laws, nieces, and nephews each summer. She especially looked forward to spending time at the "health farm" cottage at Grand Beach on Lake Winnipeg with her sister Frances, niece Donna, and nephew-in-law Jim. She always came home with stories about her great niece Paige and her great nephew Cole.
In 1975, Patricia, Wayne, Stacey, and Christian also moved to Williams Lake. The grandchildren would often go stay with their grandparents because they had so much fun at their farm near Dugan Lake. While spending time with their grandparents, Stacey and Christian enjoyed farm chores, snowmobiling, hunting, fishing, as well as eating grandma and grandpa's good cooking. The whole family enjoyed spending every Christmas at
Dugan Lake, along with many friends and neighbours.
Christina's first great granddaughter, Kerri (Stacey and Gerald's daughter), was born in 1989. Christina and Gerard moved to Bowser in 1992. While living in Bowser, the couple was good friends with Bud and Marion Mountan. In 1996, Christina's second great granddaughter, Summer (Christian and Leslie's daughter) was born. Christina and Gerard enjoyed fishing, picking clams, cooking, canning, gardening, hunting, visiting local beaches, and going for drives to get ice cream. Christina especially loved visiting Willows Beach. One of Christina's fondest memories of the time she spent with Gerard was their trip to Mexico, which she often spoke about.
In 1998, Gerard passed away and Christina moved to Victoria. While living in Victoria, Christina especially enjoyed aquasizes, road trips, knitting, sewing, going to Willow's Beach and Coombs, shopping in Oak Bay, and visiting with her family and friends. When she was living in Victoria, Christina went on a cruise to Hawaii with her sister Geraldine and brother-in-law Carmen. In Victoria, Christina enjoyed spending time with her cousins Bill and Doreen, nephew Steve, niece Debbie, great nephews Jeff and Evan, and her good friends Cal and Joyce Mitchell. Christina's only great grandson Kye (Christian and Leslie's son) was born in 2000.
In 2004, when Patricia's husband Wayne passed away, Christina moved back to Williams Lake to live with her daughter. Together, Christina and Patricia adopted a Yorkshire Terrier Shih Tzu cross puppy named Buddy in
2009. Christina enjoyed spending time with her family and friends, road trips, knitting, sewing, watching the Toronto Blue Jays games, people watching, playing checkers, using her iPad to look at Facebook, and going for ice cream.
In 2014, Patricia passed away after a battle with cancer and Christina moved to the Williams Lake Senior's Village Assisted Living Facility. One of Christina's favourite parts about living there was living near her longtime best friend Jessie Voth and her granddaughter Stacey's in-laws Kenneth and Beatrice Weber. Christina
enjoyed choir, knitting club, musical performances, and church. She was known as the sock lady at the Senior's Village because she would knit 25 pairs of socks per year and sell them in local craft fairs. Christina's last wild road trip occurred during the Williams Lake Wildfire Evacuations of 2017 (from Williams Lake to Prince George through Little Fort).
This year, Christina was especially delighted to be visited by her step-son Daniel from Nova Scotia, her longtime friend Alice who now lives in New Brunswick as well as her nephew Jim and niece Jeannie from Manitoba. Every year Christina looked forward to "her boys" coming to visit when heading up north for their hunting trip (especially her nephew Steve and his son Jeff). Christina recently moved into Full Care at the Williams Lake Senior's Village where she was visited by many family and friends, including two of Patricia's good friends Louise Pigeon and Shiela Elefson.
Surrounded by her family and her longtime best friend Jessie, Christina passed away on October 25, 2019. Christina was predeceased by her parents, all of her siblings, her two loving husbands (Peter and Gerard), her daughter Patricia, and her son-in-law Wayne. Christina leaves behind her step-son Daniel, granddaughter Stacey (Gerald), grandson Christian (Leslie), great grandchildren Kerri, Summer, and Kye, her chosen sister (longtime best friend) Jessie, her beloved dog Buddy, her large extended family, and many wonderful friends. Christina will always be loved, forever missed, and never forgotten.
The family would like to thank the Williams Lake Senior's Village staff for all of the compassionate care Christina received during her time there. Christina was always very appreciative of the excellent service and caring staff at Kornak and Hamm's Pharmacy. Our family cannot thank you enough for all that you did for Christina. Thank you to all of Christina's family and friends for making sure she knew just how treasured she was throughout the years. She loved you all.
Per Christina's wishes, the family will not be holding a funeral service. Instead, a graveside service will be held on November 15, 2019 at 11 am in the Serenity Gardens at the Williams Lake Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the BC Cancer Foundation.