- Gertrude Viola Ross – Johnson of Dartmouth N.S. born on September 6, 1925 in Kentville, King’s Co N.S.
It is with great sadness that we announce our mother’s passing from this life to the next on April 12, 2021.
Family was extremely important to our mom. Her parents were the late Daniel Lewis Ross originally from, East Preston and Mary Eliza States-Ross of Mount Denson NS.
She was predeceased by her loving husband of forty years, Beverly Clifford Douglas Earle Johnson, CAF, PO, R’td and their son Kenneth Richard Johnson.
Even though she was mother to ten children Gertrude also worked outside of her home. She was employed with CFB Shearwater, and department stores Kresge's (K-Mart) and Woolco (Walmart) in both Halifax, and Ontario. She was a conscientious employee who enjoyed her paid work
Gertrude believed in acting to right inequities. In the 90’s She advocated with the ABSW for the inclusion of black dolls on store shelves, she stood alone against Military Police twice when they tried to assert unnecessary authority over her young sons. She challenged school authorities, dissuading them from holding a school sponsored minstrel performance. She donated to the East Preston daycare ctr. and volunteered her time to canvass for the Alzheimer’s Society.
She was a Lifetime member of the Ladies Auxiliary, Owen Sound Legion Branch 6 and transferred her associate membership to Somme Branch 31 in Dartmouth when she returned to NS.
Gertrude was a committed Blue Jays fan, she also enjoyed a good card game or playing Bingo. She was a fan of Figure Skating and enjoyed completing crossword puzzles, word searches and until these last few years, she faithfully completed the local newspapers weekly Lexicon which she won in 2017 Our mom loved to write, and authored a book of poetry entitled, Along The Way. The self-publishing of her poetry was a source of great pride.
Predeceased by brothers, Arthur, Douglas, Albert (Sam), Eugene (Cliff), Laurie, Norris, Lawrence(Bo) and sister Alice Ross-Izzard.
Mom learned family values and a tireless work ethic from both of her parents who worked a farm in upper Canard NS and boarded seasonal laborers, all while raising their own family.
As a mother she knew how to make each child feel well loved and cared for. We will remember our Mother’s strength and pursuit of right. We remember her fearlessness when facing life’s big challenges or defending anyone of her family against obvious wrongs. She was a fair but firm disciplinarian, a bar of soap, a wooden spoon and the occasional rubber scrapper helped to keep all of us in line.
A tireless coach who cheered us on in our positive life choices, a good guide who knew the way ahead was hard, but by any means necessary, she encourage each of us forward.
We extend our sincere thanks to those caring health professionals who helped our Mom, especially as she coped with the after affects of another stroke in 2017. To Dr. M. McNeil and Dr. Hazelton, Community Health Nurse Raylene MacDonald all of the NS Hospital Geriatric Mental Health facility for their compassionate, respectful and thoughtful assistance. To Northwood Homecare personnel for your kind attention and VON community nurses especially Tanya Jarvis for going the extra mile for mom’s medical support. To Continuing Care professionals and special workers at the NS Rehabilitation Ctr. To those of Parkstone Enhanced Care who worked tirelessly to assist mom during her final years, Micah, Ashleigh, Marilyn ,Virginia, Yolander and Gladys. The OT and PT Professionals, Dietary, Social Work and all the Volunteers who contributed to Mom’s care during her four years at Parkstone. We may not remember everyone by name but we do know you were there for our mother and helped her during her most difficult times, thank-you!
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1925 - 2021 (95 years)
