MOOSE JAW — Linda Mae (Laughlin) Jay, remembered for her caring nature and strong love of family, died earlier this year and was commemorated recently.
“My mother was raised in Moose Jaw and met my father at the Temple Gardens Dance Hall,” wrote Jay’s daughter, Sheri Jay. “He (my father) was there for pilot training with the military. They married at the chapel on the base and held their reception at the Grant Hall in the mezzanine.
“In a full circle event, we decided to hold her celebration of life at Grant Hall 61 years later.”
Jay was born in Moose Jaw. Aside from moving around the province on account of her husband’s military service, Jay and her daughter spent much of their time in Moose Jaw and on the family farm near Swift Current.
Jay said that, even as she and her family often had to move, Moose Jaw always represented home.
“As the child of a military father who moved every one to three years, this (city) was my home base,” Jay said. “(It was) the one place I came back to and everything was the same. (It was) my foundation.
“(I remember) going to the corner store (called) Blackie’s for milk and bread, and Rodos Pizza. Everything about it is home.”
The pilgrimage was marked by both fond memories and a sad sense of change.
“When we floated the idea of this family pilgrimage, some said there is nothing there,” wrote Jay, who noted the claims were backed by a few Google Images searches.
The group visited the family homesteads and old stomping grounds — or what remained — where they lived before the Dirty Thirties drove them to the city in search of better prospects. The tour included Trewdale, Sask., the Trew and Jackson homesteads, Shamrock, Sask., the Bethlehem Cemetery, “and, finally, a tavern in Coderre where my gramps would have spent time lifting a glass and telling lies with his friends.”
“Trewdale was once a bustling small town with a grain elevator, a post office, and a railway,” Jay recalled. “It sprouted up around my great, great grandmother Trew’s farmhouse where she… helped others in childbirth and was the social butterfly of homesteading times.
“Safe to say, this trait has continued down the line with my sister and I, and many cousins also share this sense of community building,” she added.
Despite moving across what is now a changing Prairie landscape, Jay always remained connected to Moose Jaw and requested to be buried in the city she called home.
“With my mother’s passing earlier this year, we knew we would honour her wishes to be buried alongside her parents and siblings and (allow her to be) surrounded by other family members such as her grandparents and aunts in other parts of the graveyard,” Jay said.
After processing the news, the time felt right and Jay’s family and close friends gathered to combine her internment with a family reunion. Family members soon arrived from Quebec, Alberta, B.C., all over Saskatchewan, and from as far away as Texas to celebrate her life and lay her to rest.
“It was a picture perfect Prairie day with full sun and high wind as we laid my mother to rest with her living family around her and the deceased family below us.
“Childhood friends and family (stood) in a circle… We all laid a fresh flower atop the grave,” Jay said. “Her grandson Justin made a beautiful toast about her love of family, caring nature, and their common bond around the Andromeda Galaxy.”
The Grant Hall memorial included “a slideshow of almost every picture ever taken of my mother,” Jay said, adding that her father “spent weeks and months scanning every picture he had in photo albums to create this (slideshow).
“(It was) a healing journey for him, I think. Many stories were told, laughter and tears (were shared). She would have loved it.”
When the gathering drew to a close, Jay reflected on the day and on her mother’s memory.
“I walked away with Prairie dust on my boots and knowing she was where she wanted to be — as hard as it was to leave her there.
“It was hard to leave her behind in Moose Jaw, but it’s where she wanted to come home to and rest and I know one day I will also do the same,” Jay concluded. “Her family, Moose Jaw, and Rosedale Cemetery meant so much to her.”
A memorial board for Linda Jay is available online at KudoBoard.com/Boards/DcZaD4Ss.
