Alexandrina (Alice) Miller, nee MacDonald, of Penticton, BC, passed quietly the first day of spring - March 20, 2014, two days and one month short of her 92nd birthday. She is survived by her daughter Sandra (Albert) Hanni, two grandsons: Jeffrey Hanni (Candace Cummings), his son Noel and David Duncan Hanni (Danna) and their daughter Allison. She was the last of her siblings: Christina Douglas, Nina Patterson, Bill MacDonald and Rhoda Forseth. She had fond memories of her nieces and nephews and their families. She had a plethora of friends all over the world and kept in touch with their Hawaii Beach gang regularly. Alice, daughter of William and Jessie MacDonald, grew up on their McTaggart farm. It was an innocent and happy time, taking part in the farm girls' program, playing ball, and of course, helping with harvest. She was determined to finish her education and moved to Mama Bell's on Foster Street, Weyburn where she completed her Grade 12. To pay her way, she worked at both the Soo and Royal Hotels for the owners who had her help with banquets. There she learned how to do fancy baking. Mrs. McRoberts, owner of the Royal Hotel during the war years, held many an evening for the boys from North Weyburn RAF station. Alice worked as receptionist/bookkeeper as well as with those socials. To keep the boys entertained, there were dances at North Weyburn, and the locals would be bussed out. That is where she met her future husband, Sidney Miller, a RAF from Gravesend, Kent, England. They both enjoyed ballroom dancing and continued to do so through their life. They were married in September 1943 and the following spring. Sid got sent back to England. As a spouse going to join her husband, she had to have a medical and discovered she was with child. She had to wait to join him once her only child was born in August 1944. Three months later they traveled with the help of Red Cross, across the ocean. Not a good trip for her with sea sickness keeping her down. She stayed with her sister-in-law Joan until Uncle Dodge came home. Then we stayed at Grandad Miller's where she kept house. She decided it was safer to head to Scotland and stay with Granny Ross. The MacDonald family welcomed Alice and Sandra with open arms and she thoroughly enjoyed her time there. She would take the pram and go walking to the beach for some solitude, not realizing she was sitting under the testing range for the forces. When Sid was demobbed, we returned to Gravesend where we lived on the top floor of an apartment next to a bombed out building, one block up from the Thames. She worked as a bookkeeper for an importer/exporter for a time. She developed breathing problems and they decided before returning to Canada, to see what could be done through the National Health Plan. As a result of a team of specialists' consultation at the world famous Guys Hospital in London, she underwent surgery to help her breathing, resulting to a permanent tracheotomy which she lived with ever since. For many years, no one realized she had this disability. As Alice said in one of her stories, "One does not need to advertise an ailment. Just deal with it and get on with life." She did that with dignity and grace. Returning to Canada in 1950, she continued working with numbers, her favourite thing other than dancing. She worked in the automotive industry as an accountant: first with Weyburn Motors Ltd., on 2nd Street with Cliff Fleming, a wonderful boss and later with Gerry Papic, Great Plains Ford and finally with Ron Barber, another one of her favourite people, at Barber Motors. Alice was the first lady accountant in Canada to win a perfect score for three years running, all done by hand - no computers for her. She also worked at the City of Weyburn with Johnny Norman until Ron Barber enticed her back into the car dealership life. She enjoyed her life and family with the ups and downs as we all experience. They would go dancing and attending big band orchestras in Regina with her sister and husband, Chrissie and Albert Douglas. She decided she wanted more creativity in her life and took up painting, first in oils, then water colour. Four of her water colours are in the City of Weyburn Permanent Art Collection. She donated her talents to the first local Communithon, and along with her grandson Jeff, produced a number of posters, some of which are still in existence. She was involved in the making of Weyburn's "Big Wheel" with Joan Linley and others. She, along with Dorothy Barlow also helped design the City of Weyburn flag by researching heraldry for meaningful symbolism for Weyburn. That flag remains a part of the City today. She wasn't a joiner but would help out or volunteer at the United Church's fair booth baking pies, or supplying fancy cupcakes for teas. She was on the charter council for Job's Daughters, a Masonic young woman's organization - both local and provincial. She was a working mum when most mothers stayed at home, but she was a very caring mother and grandmother who delighted in her great granddaughter Allison. Summer was traveling and camping tent style. None of these fancy affairs people travel with these days. Hot cocoa in the morning at Banff, or camping by a roadside stream was the way we went. One summer they discovered Penticton in the Okanagan Valley. Eventually they lived out their retirement there enjoying the condo life and their many winters in Hawaii. She was an artist, a writer, an archivist, a historian of family and local events. She was a very organized person with many stories, files and binders documenting her and her family's life. Thanks for that mum. She completed her first book Paper Dolls (her early life on the farm - dedicated to her parents) in the 1980's and just completed 'War Bride' in 2012 depicting our time in England. Predeceased by her husband Sidney in July 2001, she was determined to stay in her beloved condo and did so until a week before her death. As Frank Sinatra, one of her favourite singers, said, "I did it my way", and she did. We will miss her terribly but with great love for how she showed us what life is all about. Direct cremation took place in Penticton with Hanson's Funeral Home. Private interment will take place under the direction of Fletcher Funeral Chapel with Reverend John Ferrier presiding. Donations in memory of Alice can be made to the Salvation Army Food Bank, Big Brothers and Sisters or to a charity of choice. A Memorial Tea for friends and family will be held 2:00 - 4:00 pm on Saturday, June 21 at the Wheatland Senior Centre, 888 - 1st Avenue, NE, Weyburn. "Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to min'? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And days o'auld lang syne?"
Robert Burns 1759-1796
