It is with heavy hearts we announce the passing of Ruby Annie Mackinnon (nee Gibbon) on Tuesday, March 28th, 2017 at Nelson Jubilee Manor with family by her side.
It was with great sadness that our mother, Ruby MacKinnon (nee Gibbon) slipped away on March 28, 2017 after a short illness. She was surrounded by family and gentle staff at Jubilee Manor during her last days.
Ethel Gibbon, Ruby’s mother, was visiting family in England when Ruby was born on September 24th, 1920. When Ruby was six months old, she, her mother and 3 older siblings rejoined her father in Calgary Alberta where they lived for a further five years.
The Gibbon family of five now, moved to Nelson and a home on Silica Street for a few years before moving to Fairview then back to Silica Street for Ruby’s high school years. During her early years Ruby spent many a happy day at Lakeside Park, “after the chores were done’’, Gyro Park pool, skating in the back yard, going to the Capital Theatre and sleigh riding down Silica Street during the winter.
She had a great love for dancing and learned to tap dance, Scottish
and Irish dance at a young age. She danced in local acts, church Christmas
parties, whenever she could. Her schooling was obtained from Hume school, Central School and later the Nelson High School. After high school, she worked at Kelly Douglas warehouse in Nelson and on the SS Nasookin as a waitress in the dining room.
In 1943 Ruby travelled to Galt, Ontario then Halifax, Nova Scotia for training in the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRENs) before being stationed in London, England. She worked as a teletype operator in a bunker a hundred feet below the streets of London. Ruby sent the coded teletype message to Canada that announced D-day.
Before she signed up, she met the love of her life Hallam MacKinnon, while playing badminton at the Procter Hall. After a long courtship, prolonged by World War II, Hallam proposed and they were married in Nelson on September 22, 1945. Ruby and Hallam built a home on the family dairy farm in Procter and raised six kids of their own and four foster children over the years. The farm life was hard work and very busy with raising kids and animals, planting and harvesting crops and running a farm.
Ruby was always involved with the United Church in Procter, various school activities, community groups and functions that helped keep the Procter community thriving. After the passing of Hallam in 1974 and the kids leaving the nest, Ruby met and married a lovely gentleman, Larry Cobb.
Ruby had a vibrant personality that made her special to her family
and the community; the kettle was always on and she welcomed all into her home. Ruby had an unlimited amount of time and energy for her grandkids and great grandkids with a homemade remedy for every calamity, whether it be a poultice or an oatcake.
She is predeceased by her siblings: Arthur (Jean) Gibbon, Olive (Ken) Reese, Margaret (Norm) MacLeod, Don Gibbon, her husband Hallam, daughter Holly, grandson Scott and second husband Larry Cobb.
She is survived by children: Don (Barb) MacKinnon, Grant(Alison)MacKinnon, Gerry MacKinnon(Kathy Reiner), Sheilah (George) Fofonow, Laurie (Allen) Pollard; Grandchildren: Jodi(Chris) Wouters, Mitchell
MacKinnon, Adrienne MacKinnon, Marla(Walter) Sokolowski, Rory
MacKinnon (Ashley MacDonald), Cody Pollard (Katie Owens), Jenna (Braden) Job, Erika MacKinnon; Great-grandchildren: Callum, Jaydon, Matthew, Jamin, Emma, Nelson, Lyncoln, Indiah, Eva and Finn.
A service and reception for her remembrance will be held Saturday,
May 13, 2017 at 2 pm at the Balfour Covenant Church 7741 Upper Balfour Road, Balfour, BC.
In lieu of flowers, a donation to the Heart and Stroke Foundation can be made.