June 18, 1923 – April 25, 2022
April 25th, 2022, at the age of 98 years, our Mum, Nana, Nana-the-Great and dear Friend Alice went to be with her Lord and Savior. Alice was the youngest of 4 children born to George and Edith Butcher on June 18th, 1923 in Southampton, England. At the tender age of 3, her mother passed away and she was then raised by her father, elder sister and two brothers. As a young girl, “Miss Alice” as her father called her, loved to ride her bike, read books, play with neighboring children, play “net ball” (basketball) for the school team and spend time with her faithful companion dog “Peggy”. At 14 she began working as a housekeeper for Colonel & Mrs. Parker who encouraged her in her pursuit to better herself and suggested that she would make a great nurse. At 16 she began her on-the-job training to be a nurse at the hospital in Fleet just as World War II began.
It was 1940 when she met William, a Canadian soldier, who insisted on talking with the girl with red hair that he passed on the road in his army convoy. On Alice’s 18th birthday, she and Bill were married and in April 1942 she gave birth to her first-born daughter Veronica. In 1944, Alice and Veronica boarded a ship for Canada, followed by Bill on a medical ship, to live on their farm in Bulwer near Sherbrooke, Quebec. There her son David and daughter Valerie were born and raised until 1963 when Bill and Alice moved west to Calgary. Youngest daughter Melanie was born in Calgary in 1965. In 1971, Alice and Bill moved to Sundre to 30 acres of farmland on the Bergen Hill and then moved to town in 1978.
To many who knew her, Alice was a loyal, loving, generous friend and a practiced caregiver. Hospitality was one of her gifts. Her leisure time was spent tending to her flower and vegetable gardens, playing cards and knitting. Although she was known to be a mannered and modest lady, she did engage in some occasional fun and mischief with family friends.
Alice moved into the Foothills/Mountain View Lodge in Sundre in 2010 as her eyesight began to fail her and her husband of 64 years and eldest daughter had passed away. Then in 2020 she moved to Heart Haven Lodge in Stettler and into Melanie’s home in Stettler in 2021 where she remained until her passing. Endless, fond memories of Alice will always be cherished by her remaining 3 children, 8 grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren, and many other family members and friends.
A Memorial Service will be held at the Sundre United Church on Saturday, May 28, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. In lieu of floral tributes, memorial donations can be made to the Public Libraries in Sundre or Stettler or to the CNIB Foundation of Canada.
