Obituary of Rita Goad

Rita Ann Goad of Camrose, formerly of Ontario, passed away on Wednesday, August 10, 2016 at Sunrise Village in Camrose, at the age of 86 years. Rita, the first of Stella and Joseph Gall's four children, was born in Preston, Ontario on April 12, 1930. At the very young age of 13, Rita faced the first of many difficult tragedies and life challenges. Her mother Stella had died shortly after giving birth to Sharon, the fourth child in the Gall family. After Stella's death, Rita left school and took on the responsibility of looking after two of her younger siblings, Robert and Faye, and the family home in Preston. Baby Sharon was placed in the care of relatives for her upbringing. In early 1946, Rita married Clarence Goad and in late December of that year gave birth to her first child, Richard. A second son, Thomas, was born in January 1950 and Rita was presented with a second great tragedy. Thomas was born with Spina Bifida which resulted in his early death six months later. Other life challenges followed. In 1953, Clarence, who had been working in the Savage Shoes factory in Galt near Preston, was fired when the company crushed a plant wide strike of which he was involved in organizing. Life was very tough for the Goad family following the failed strike and in 1954 Clarence joined the Canadian Army. Being a soldier's wife was not easy for it was very stressful in many ways for Rita. Every two or three years Clarence was posted to a new Army Base and Rita, just when she had gotten the family settled in, had to start the moving process over again. And Clarence was also going away on extended training exercises, some up to six months long, while Rita looked after the family and their home. In January 1995 tragedy struck again when Rita's third child, Terry Ann, died in a car accident near Camrose, Alberta. It is always difficult for a parent to overcome the grief imposed by the loss of a child and Rita was no exception. There are other notable life challenges and tragedies that Rita faced in her life including Clarence's death in 2006 and herself being diagnosed with Vascular Dementia in 2007. The Dementia was particularly difficult for her to both comprehend and deal with. Dementia is a nasty illness since it affects a person physically as well as mentally. Except for Dementia, Rita overcame all these life challenges and tragedies and more by living an active and emotionally balanced life. She did this by loving and caring for her family, travelling with Clarence and engaging in many hobbies and pastimes. She enjoyed immensely her sewing, knitting, quilting, landscape painting, bowling, interacting with her friends and looking after her dogs of which she had quite a number over the years. She is survived by her four children, Rick Goad (Mary Davidson) of Stouffville, Ontario, Karen (Dennis) Leslie of Camrose, Alberta, Donald (Gina) Goad of Tomslake, British Columbia, David (Rose) Goad of Australia, numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren, two great-great grandchildren, and one sister, Faye. Rita was predeceased by her husband Clarence, one daughter Terry Lapp, one infant son Tommy, and brother Bob Gall. Rita Ann Goad, mother to all her family, both immediate and extended, will continue to be loved and terribly missed by all of her family in turn. A funeral service was held on Saturday, September 17, 2016 at 1:00 pm from the Burgar Memorial Chapel. Memorial contributions are gratefully accepted to the Alzheimer's Society of Alberta.