Jennifer Wendy Frances Stark

Our darling Jennifer breathed her last on the evening of June 1, just shy of her 75th birthday. She is survived by her 4 siblings and their children and grandchildren, and by her adoring husband and beagles in Summerland.

Jennifer Wendy Frances Stark was born in London, England on June 20, 1947, and moved to Kyle, Saskatchewan, with her family in 1962. What a transition! She went on to become a teacher in various parts of Western Canada and the North; also a hang glider pilot, a geologist, a gifted artist with an eye for flowers, a movie actress, and above all a friend to dogs and other animals. She was a bubbling, funny, charming presence at any gathering, and usually the most fashionably dressed.

Jen insisted, as she was coming to terms with the ovarian cancer that eventually claimed her life, that people should not mourn for her when she was gone. Rather, she asked that people reflect on the full, joyful, and productive life she had, and on that sense of humour of hers, which was always kind, gentle, and a little zany.

There will be a Celebration of Life on June 20, 7:30 p.m., at the Freedom Flight Park, 249 Mabel Lake Road, near Lumby. It is expected to degenerate into a birthday party. Jen asked that for any such festivities, people dress in bright colours, perhaps with a little show of blue and yellow.

In lieu of flowers, donations to either World Animal Protection or Ovarian Cancer Canada would be welcome.