Doris Eleanor Littlejohn Genealogy and Family History Notes


Doris Eleanor McCurdy

Doris Eleanor McCurdy was suddenly called to her heavenly home Saturday, June 19, 2004.

Doris was born September 26, 1927, at Lampman, Saskatchewan, to Ernest Wilfred Littlejohn and Minnie Peters. She attended Yankee School and worked as a psychiatric nurse prior to her marriage to Cecil Earl McCurdy in February 1948. From that point on her family became the center of her life.

Doris was preceded in death by her father in 1936; her mother in 1986; her husband Cecil in 1966; daughter Irene in 1988; sister Carolyn in 1976 and brother Elmer in 2002; brothers-in-law Gordon McCurdy in 1987 and Earl Willock in 1981; sisters-in-law Viola Hingston in 1988 and Irene Rowsome in 1984.

She leaves to forever cherish her memory her daughters: Myrna (Jim) Hoskins, Moose Jaw; Cecile (Ray) Anderson, Estevan; sons: Mervin McCurdy, Bienfait; Allen (Shelly) McCurdy, Estevan; Ray McCurdy, Alberta; son-in-law Dave Thompson, P.E.I. Her grandchildren: Robert Hoskins, Moose Jaw; Dawn (Scott) Marasse, Moose Jaw; Dana (Kevin) Zaplitney, Regina; Ricky McCurdy, Estevan; Cory and Michael McCurdy, Bienfait; Daryle Cleave, Alberta; Starla (Murray) Yaganiski, Moose Jaw; Kevin McCurdy, Estevan; David Anderson, B.C.; Chrissy Thompson, P.E.I and Danielle, Estevan; as well as 14 great-grandchildren; sisters: Lorraine (Oscar) Schindal, Macoun; Eileen (Ed) Rosner, Estevan; Mildred (Ray) Pott, Lampman; brother: Wilf (Gladys) Littlejohn, Browning. Sisters-in-law: Edith (Stan) Hammet, Windthorst; Olive (Ed) Weber, Calgary; brothers-in-law: Walter (Kay) McCurdy, Ottawa; Eric (Olga) Shea, Winnipeg; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Pallbearers were grandson Rob Hoskins; nephews Dean Littlejohn, Tom Littlejohn, Rob Willock, Barry Rosner; friend Brian Simons. Honorary pallbearers were friends Carol Simons, Dorothy Ferguson and Iva McLeary.

Doris opened her heart and her home to family members, friends, and so many others. She was a devoted mother, grandmother, sister, auntie, and friend. She touched the lives of so many with her kindness, compassion, tenderness, generosity, and love. Doris is such a shining example that success is not measured by what we acquire, but instead it is measured by the lives we enrich with love.

Doris, we love you more than words can say. We miss you more than our hearts can contain. We promise to honor you through continuing your legacy of love and kindness towards one another.

"Many women do noble things, but you will surpass them all." Proverbs 31:29

A Celebration of Doris' Life was held Wednesday, June 22 in the Chapel of the Orsted Funeral Home, Estevan. She was laid to rest at the Browning Cemetery.

The family would like to thank the Estevan Ambulance Service, and the doctors, nurses and staff at St. Joseph's Hospital. We would also like to thank Rev. M. Barnabas of St. Paul's United Church and the Staff at Orsted Funeral Home. Finally, we would like to thank everyone who showed their love and support though attending the funeral service, sending cards, flowers, food, and donations to the Canadian Cancer Society and the Heart and Stoke Foundation.

The Estevan Mercury

Eulogy - by grandaughter's husband Scott

“Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.”

Today were are here to celebrate the life of Doris McCurdy, someone who has brought sunshine to the lives of so many others through her kind a loving spirit.

Before we begin, I want to say that to most of us, this may not seem like a time of celebration. We all love and miss Doris so much that we may not feel ready to say good-bye yet. But you need to know that she loves us so much, and that she is ready to say goodbye. She wrote these words for you to hear: “A message for my family and friends: I know that the is an afterlife, and I am not afraid of dying. Please don’t grieve for me, for at last I’m with the Lord, and my family, my husband, my dear daughter Irene, and other loved ones that were laid to rest earlier. I loved them all.”

I realize these words cannot instantly heal the pain that we are feeling now, but we need to understand that Doris wanted us to know that this is not a sad time, that it is a time to be comforted by the fact that she was ready to be reunited in Heaven with those she has loved and lost.

Doris became my grandma the day I married my wife, and her granddaughter, Dawn Hoskins. Actually, it was earlier than that, it was from the moment that I stepped into Doris’s house two years earlier, and was instantly welcomed with open arms into the family. Although she had just met me, I felt instantly like she was my grandma. She treated me with the loving kindness that she extends to everyone she meets.

I’m sure that everyone here could list so many ways that Doris has touched their lives with her kindness, compassion, tenderness, love, and generosity.

I would like to read a passage that, to me, portrays who Doris is and how she lived her life. It is from the book of Colossians, Chapter 3, Verses 12 & 14:
“Therefore as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. And over all these virtues, put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

Doris opened her home and her heart to family members, friends, and so many others. She was a devoted mother, a loving grandmother & great grandmother, sister, auntie, mother-in-law, and friend. Anytime anyone needed someone to talk to, she was there, just a phone call away. There were so many other little things she did, such as, every holiday she would find it in her heart to take a generous plate of food to each and every employee that had to work on that holiday at the neighborhood 7-11. This is just one small example of how big her heart is, how she always thought of others before herself.

Doris is such a unique and shining example of the fact that success is not measure in what we acquire, but instead it is measured by the lives that we enrich with love.
Doris never made a million dollars, nor did she make it her life’s goal. Instead in her writings she expressed:
“My life’s greatest accomplishments have been in raising 6 children, and working until retirement age.”
“My fondest memories are my children as babies and toddlers, and as they grew older, riding their ponies, and Christmas.”
And
“My favorite place is home.”
Home to Doris in not the house she lived in, but instead, the people, the memories made, and the love shared.

She also wrote: “I want my family to remember me for the love I have for each and every one of you. I also wish my family to know that they should tell their children now how much they love them and care, before like me it is too late to do so. I do not know if Irene read the letter I wrote telling her how much I love her.”

Although, we all know how much Doris loved us, without having to say those three little words, her love was spoken to our hearts through the good deeds, and through the loving kindness she extended to all. However, not saying the words “I Love You” was something she always wished she had done more often.

It is her hearts desire that we learn to tell those we care about we love them. Something Doris expressed in her writings was that her favorite flower is the rose, and her favorite color is pink. When you leave here today, and in the future, I would like for you, every time you see a pink rose, to think of Doris, to remember her love, and remember her wish that we love one another, and that we take the time to tell those we care about how much we love them. This would be such a simple way of honoring someone who has loved so much, given so much, taught so much, and filled so many lives with joy.

In closing I feel this short passage is a strong example of the impact Doris’s love made on so many lives.
Proverbs 31:29 reads:
“Many women do noble things, but you will surpass them all.”

Doris, we love you more than words can ever say. We miss you more than our hearts can even contain. And we promise to honor your wish by simply saying “I Love You.”


More About Doris Eleanor Littlejohn:
Burial: June 22, 2004, Browning Cemetery, Browning, Saskatchewan, Canada

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