Dyane Elizabeth (Presonka) Partridge

Dyane Elizabeth Partridge (nee Presonka), age 64, passed away peacefully on October 6, 2020 in Calgary after a lengthy battle with progressive MS.   

She was born December 29, 1955 in St. Boniface, Manitoba to John and Laurette Presonka. She “enjoyed” having two significantly older brothers John and Rick (Eleanor). She loved her nephews David, Ricky, and niece Melanie. Growing up on Gareau St, she made many long-term friends who shared her life, love, and laughter.   

In 1980, one of her friends convinced Dyane together with her orange cat Rufus, to leave family and friends behind and move with her to oil rich Alberta, where she would find “work and men”.  It was a fateful decision because she found both... a job in a custom art framing studio in Edmonton, and later, her husband to be, Scott, who by happenstance stopped by the studio because a friend was dating the owner.  Scott had just started in Engineering at the University of Calgary at the time.

It was not an easy courtship in the beginning...it was long distance the first year with Scott travelling by bus to Edmonton almost every weekend.  Scott also had to meet the approval of Dyane’s cat Rufus before any sure foothold in the relationship could be made. It was not a certainty. 

Success! Dyane moved the following summer to Calgary to live with Scott as he completed his degree.  A good thing too as Dyane’s work at a local Calgary art studio helped them immensely in those early years.  They later married in Winnipeg in July 1984, honeymooning at Grand Beach.  The car trip from Calgary to Winnipeg for the wedding with Rufus was a story in and of itself as was Dyane’s bridal shower. 

Not long after graduation, Scott, Dyane, and Rufus relocated to Toronto for work where Scott had family.  This is where their daughter Morgan was born in 1988. 

Although they enjoyed all of the funky things you can find to do in Toronto, after two and a half years of dealing with a three-hour daily commute and summer humidity that they were unable to adapt to, they moved back to the more moderate lifestyle and climate of Calgary where their son Connor was born in 1993. 

Dyane was a devoted mother and stayed at home to raise her children.  She kept in close touch with her Winnipeg family roots, with yearly visits whenever possible, sometimes even in a Manitoba winter.  She often spoke fondly of her time with friends, Dennis, Jack, Ron, Bryan, Molly-Ann, Sandy, and especially Rolande. 

She is remembered and loved by Scott, Morgan, and Connor and by her sister-in-law Janis Gayle (Las) and brother-in-law Glenn (Lisa), her brothers John and Rick (Eleanor), as well as nephews Colin, Danny, Hudson, David, Ricky, and niece Melanie. The family offers sincere thanks to the staff of Bethany Calgary in West Hillhurst for her care. 

There will be a celebration of her life on Tuesday, October 13, 2020 at Evan J. Strong Funeral Services.  Service to begin at 1:00pm. Interment to follow at Queens Park Cemetery. 

 In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the MS Society of Canada at mssociety.ca. 

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