Leola May Lever, or May, to those who knew and loved her, was born in Quibell, Ontario on September 18th, 1931 to Joseph and Yvonne Hatfield and left us on Saturday June 18th of this year 2011.
May was the fourth of seven children. She had 2 older brothers; Joseph Theodore and John Edgar, one older sister Yvonne (Eva) and three younger brothers; Kenneth Victor, Leo Edgar and James Henry.
May grew up in the Perrault Falls area with her family learning to work on a trap line. She spoke on many occasions of the good, and sometimes not so good, life on a trap line, but always on how it was an experience she would never have traded. It was growing up on this trap line that gave May her love for the outdoors and animals.
May married Jim Lever when she was 22 and had seven of her own children; Bob, Eddie, Lee, Debbie, Bonnie, Fred and Greg. She was unfortunately predeceased by two of her children, Eddie and Lee, a loss no mother should ever have to feel. Throughout her adult life May had adopted and nursed back to health a variety of animals. Her home always had the love of a pet, whether it was a dog, cat, rabbit or hamster or a combination of all of them; they were always there.
May also loved working with her hands, showing her children and grandchildren how to knit, crochet and complete a variety of other handmade crafts. She loved to bake and cook and was known well for her Christmas cake and her fried bread. One of her most favorite past times was to go camping with her family.
May had a great love for children, hers and others. It’s been said that half of the population of Dryden use to call her Grandma. She babysat for those who needed a good, inexpensive babysitter, and she even took in foster children for a short time. As long as she was able, she had kids of all ages in her life. She always believed the children were a blessing and kept us young.
May will be sorely and sadly missed by all her family, children and grandchildren.
A Memorial Funeral Service will be held Wednesday, June 29th at 10:00 a.m. in the Moffat Chapel of Stevens Funeral Homes with Reverend Alan Campeau officiating. Interment will follow in the Dryden Cemetery. If friends desire, donations may be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation or the Second Chance Pet Network through the Stevens Funeral Homes P.O. Box 412, Dryden ON P8N 2Z1. Condolences may be emailed to sympathycard@shaw.ca subject: Lever
