It is with great sorrow that we announce the death of Elaine Henderson, devoted and loving mother of Marcela Henderson and grandmother of Daniela Henderson.
Elaine was predeceased by her beloved parents, John and Sis Henderson. From them she learned a deep love of family and a great affection for Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia, their respective birthplaces.
Elaine was also predeceased by her treasured brother Ross Henderson and her beloved sister-in-law Jo Henderson.
Cherished sister of Sue Turner (Bill) and Mike Henderson (Jo, deceased), as well as a wonderful aunt to her five nieces: Candace (Paula), Tracy, Jennie, Kate and Beth.
Best friend to Jennie Abell and dear friend to many other close friends.
Elaine was a wonderful light in our lives. Her kindness and compassion, her intellect and sense of justice, her strong independence, and her sense of humour enriched us all.
Her enduring integrity and passion for social justice framed her career in adult education and development work in Northern Manitoba and Northern Saskatchewan, and subsequently with CUSO in Bolivia, with Save the Children in Nicaragua, and with OXFAM in Cuba and in Ottawa.
A celebration of Elaine’s Life will be arranged at a future date in the spring of 2024.
Special thanks to Dr. Arleigh McCurdy and the Multiple Myeloma team at the Ottawa Hospital for the compassionate care they provided to Elaine over the past years, and to Dr. Cindy Wang and the Bytown Palliative Medicine team.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the charity of your choice or to Myeloma Canada.
Digital Guestbook
Brenda Smith
Marcela Henderson
Mom, what I didn't say today was I miss the way you laugh to the point you'd be wheezing and wiping tears from your eyes. It was so infectious. I miss knowing how you were willing to give anyone a second chance regardless of their poor decisions in the past as long as you knew that they had put in real effort to turn their lives around. How inclusive you were to my friends who didn't have the best circumstances but you were willing to show them what a positive influence was, simply just from being you. How even at the peak of my fitness you were always able to out run me. That even in your final year with us you were still trying to keep up with your yoga. If you hadn't gotten sick, you would still be in better shape than most of us, even at 75 years old. How you always tried to be there for everyone and rarely put yourself first. You were truly too special to want to share. How versatile your taste in music was and how you passed that on to me. From a love of motown, folk, gospel, celtic, Latin music, classical, female power houses. Pop, soul, funk. Your love of musicals and theater, even though you couldn't sing. Your endless appearance to dance recitals(Nicaraguan Folk ballet), you always made sure I knew where I came from. Your ability to love me enough and still allow for my family in Nicaragua to love me too. To share all parts of your many adventures from your past. I know you didn't get to travel as much as you would have liked but thank you for sharing that with me too. Thank you for always picking up the phone. Thank you for making an effort growing up to show me what strong,brave, powerful woman looked like from all around the world. Your love of swimming, hikes and love of the outdoors that not only did you pass on to me but later on shared with Daniela. Thank you for the movie nights and sleep overs at my place before Daniela was born. Your love of classics, like; Casablanca, Fred Austaire films, Gene Kelly, Jack Lemmon, Audry Hepburn, katherine Hepburn, Dr. Zhevago, To sir with Love, Dead Poets Society, aswell as showing me a love for international films. Thank you for including me and showing the importance of your work, by including me in your Save the Children Canada family in Nicaragua, Oxfam Canada Family. Thank you for bringing me along to work meetings in rural Nicaragua aswell as seeing the excitement of being reunited with your former students from the residential school in Jans Bay. As well as your friends from your work in Bolivia. Thank you for supporting me through my various explorations of different careers, from coming to support me when I wanted to be a Chef at Courtyard Restaurant, to letting me practice blow drying and putting rollers in your hair, (your hair looked so volumous and shiny) Thank you for watching Daniela when I finally discovered my real passion for wanting to do wedding decor. Thank you for all the lunch dates while Daniela was at school. Out of all the versions of you I have loved over the years, my favorite was seeing you be a Nana. Thank you for choosing to be my mom 29 years ago and choosing Daniela and I everyday since. I may have gotten to know the different parts of your life but no one came closer to being your pea to your pod, then your beautiful grand daughter Daniela.I miss you every day and I was so blessed to have a mother that always went above and beyond. So much so I would have friends asking if you'd adopt them aswell. You have touched the hearts of everyone who has had the honor of getting to know you. You will continue to be someone worth remembering. We love you so very very much mama/ nana
Love, marcela and Daniela.
Elaine re-entered my life in 2011 at my Father’s funeral. She was hoping to catch up with a dear childhood friend my cousin Christine. I was fortunate to be able to spend the last dozen years getting to better know Elaine. She had the upper hand on me as she babysat me as a young child when our parents were stationed at Shearwater. She was always kind enough to not mention what a terror I was…just smiled when the subject was raised.
Though Elaine had her parents, a large family and a multitude of friends she took the time to take my elderly mother to Chapters for a coffee and an exchange of books….Elaine’s heart was as big as her smile and her home was always open to me when I was visiting. One could go on and on about Elaine’s positivity, courage, sense of humours and dedication to helping others. However, she was an unpretentious soul.
My deepest condolences to her devoted siblings, Marcela and Daniela.