BROUWER (Telder), Marie-jeanne Gasperine "Marion"
With great sadness we would like to inform everyone that on July 26, 2021, Marie-jeanne Gasperine (Telder) Brouwer, age 88, widow of Jack Brouwer (July 13, 2011), mother of Paul (Catherine), Vivian (Gaeten) Sasseville, Lance (Charlene) and Andrea (Dean) Verge, seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, has passed away in Hants Community Hospital, Windsor, in the presence of her youngest daughter Andrea due to the complications of Alzheimer’s. From the beginning Marion proved to be a fighter, born April 1933 in the coal mining district Prealle-herstal, Belgium, weighing less than a pound, her incubator was a cotton batten-lined shoebox on the oven door. Her parents escaped the occupation to Holland where she excelled in languages, competitive swimming, graduated then qualified as a hairdresser and cosmetologist. There she met and married the love of her life in December 1953. In 1960 Marion, Jack and son emigrated to Mineville, living for several years in a very small drafty cottage, no running water, a wood stove to heat and cook, a wooden washing machine, miles from the nearest living soul, sometimes snowed in for weeks at a time, often without electricity. Marian endured it all for the future of her children. In 1963 the family of four by then qualified for a Co-op mortgage, building their modest home on Nova Terrace in Cole Harbour. During her lifetime Marian did everything she could to support her family, hairdresser, seamstress, knitting, Avon lady, teaching herself and friends in crafts such as hardanger, tatting, crochet, cross-stitch to name but a few. Marion leaves behind countless friends who will miss her outgoing resourceful pioneer spirit. These last few years of fighting ultimately took their toll. Marion will be sorely missed by everyone who knew her. No formal service is planned, friends and family have their shared memories of her life. Contributions can be made to the Alzheimer Society of Nova Scotia to honour her memory and would be greatly appreciated.