Life will never be the same for the Ingram girls and their families with the passing of the family matriarch, Mary WILMA Ingram, on Saturday, October 16, 2021. Wilma was the fourth of ten children born to Margaret and Levi Hatch on June 5, 1929 in High Bluff, Manitoba. Her remaining sibling, Floyd Hatch of Elliot Lake, will miss his almost daily visits for tea, a sweet and stories/laughs about their family.
As a young woman, Wilma, or Wiser to her siblings, wasn’t afraid of hard work on the farm, cleaning households or working in the Gillespie sewing factory in Winnipeg. When she finally met the love of her life, John Ingram (d. 2000), in Sudbury, they did their best to raise 6 daughters together over the years. Life was busy with her being a mom, a volunteer, selling Avon and Tupperware, helping on school trips or Brownies. She loved all children and babysat many children in the community of Elliot Lake. Somehow she had this amazingly huge “pension” because she certainly used her babysitting money to help her daughters and grandchildren throughout the years. She always said it was best to give with a warm hand than a cold one.
Wilma is survived by five of her daughters whose names she often never got right when she was peed off at them when they were younger and, well, even as grownups! She has left behind many grandchildren and great grandchildren who will talk about her for decades to come. She will be lovingly remembered by Darlene(d. in 2001) (son Christopher/Stacey with their 6 children Reith, Hunter, Meadow, Keegan, Meadow and Austin), Linda and Roger Collett, Marina and Richard Josey (Adam, David), Barbara and Gary Overland (daughter Heather/Kevin and Findley), Janice and Bob Rhodes (daughters Stephanie/Paul and Malcolm; Quinn/Troy), Debbie and Gilles LeBlanc (daughters Julie/Max (Nicholas, Julien, Emma and Théo), Alysse/Dan (Danica, Cédric), Danelle/Martin (Caleb, Loïc) and Deanne/Shawn(Véra).
Wilma loved knitting for her family, friends and community teas, working as a volunteer at the Legion, Salvation Army and the local hospital to name only a few. That little dash between her birth and passing is nowhere big enough to indicate the legacy she has left behind.
A very special thank you to Jennifer(her PSW) and her home care nurses (Earle, Naveh and Kim). Truly these people are angels disguised as nurses.
Thank you to her many friends and family members from near and afar who did not shy away from staying in contact with her via phone calls or visits these last few months. It truly made her happy.
A memorial service will be held at St. Peter’s The Apostle Anglican Church in Elliot with burial to follow in Woodlands Cemetery, Elliot Lake. Those wishing to leave a message of condolence to the Ingram family may do so at www.elliotlakefuneralchapel.com
In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory can be sent to The House of Kin in Sudbury, ON (www.houseofkinsudbury.ca) or the St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation in Elliot Lake (sjghel.ca).
She would want to leave a special message for those who knew and loved her, “Be nice.”