Gertrude Gear

September 9, 1927 – July 19, 2014 Gertrude Gear, late of Shellbrook, SK, was born in Sele, Norway on September 9, 1927 and went to be with the Lord on July 19, 2014 at the age of 86.She was the third of eight children born to Tolleif and Rachel Aarrestad. The family came to Canada in 1929 to Weldon, SK and moved to the Park Valley area in 1930. Gertrude started school when the Lake Four School opened in 1939. She attended it for three and a half years completing grade six and a year of correspondence. Over the years Gertrude held a number of different jobs. These included housekeeping, babysitting, cooking in logging and bush camps as well as cooking and waitressing in cafes. She was a cleaning lady in Big River Union Hospital and at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton. She also clerked in a grocery store in Hinton, AB. In 1963, her sister Alma took over the store at Park Valley and Gertrude helped her run it until it sold in 1970. Gertrude married Lester Gear on October 8, 1967. They spent their first three summers on the farm in Ladder Valley and winters in Edmonton where Lester worked on a PMU Farm. Their daughter Kathrine was born while in Edmonton on November 21, 1968 and in 1970 they took up farming full time in the Ladder Valley area. In 1990 they moved to Shellbrook and she lived there until the last two months when she moved into the Debden Manor. Gertrude loved children and her passion for helping out with them started early. Her first jobs included helping at neighbors with babysitting and housekeeping. After she was married her home became a haven for many of her nieces and nephews. It seemed that there was always room for one more. Gertrude loved to knit and was best known for her many socks and mittens. She was an avid scrabble player nearly wearing out her scrabble board. Gertrude loved the Lord, her faith in God never wavering. One of the highlights of her life was being able to go back to Norway on three separate occasions. Family was important to her and visiting with her relatives either in person or by phone calls brought her great pleasure. Gertrude will be lovingly remembered by: her daughter Kathrine (Milton) Seabrook; her grandchildren: Eric (Christina) Seabrook, Robyne (Dave) Williamson and Darci (Hunter Krazniuk) Seabrook; her great-granddaughters: Hannah and Brinley Williamson, and Thea Seabrook; her siblings: Aadne (Gladys) Aarrestad, Asbjorn (Mary) Aarrestad, Alma (Warren) Latus, Maria Paul, and Norman (Eileen) Aarrestad; her sister-in-law: Noreen Aarrestad, as well as numerous nieces, nephews and other relatives. She was predeceased by: her parents Tolleif and Rachel Aarrestad; her husband Lester Gear; her brothers Thoralf and Ragnar Aarrestad; her brother-in-law Cecil Paul; and her sister-in-law Violet Aarrestad. A Funeral Service was held on Thursday, July 24, 2014 – 2:00 pm, Shellbrook Pentecostal Church. Interment followed in the Shellbrook Cemetery. Arrangements in care of Shellbrook Funeral Home. Brian and Bev Stobbs, Funeral Directors. 306.747.2494 www.ShellbrookFH.ca