Ellen Christina Warnock (nee Engman) passed away peacefully on November 23, 2020.
Born on February 5, 1920 in Foremost, AB, Ellen spent her childhood years in Turin, AB where in 1944, she married her high school sweetheart Jack McBeath (dec’d 1995), and settled into a long and distinguished teaching career in the community while raising children Brian and Anita on the nearby family farm. She had obtained a Teaching Certificate from what was then called the Calgary Normal School and began practicing her profession four years earlier. Late in her career Ellen realized that if she wanted more earning power and a better pension, she’d need a University Degree, so at the age of 51, she decided to go to summer school and night school to get her B.Ed. Such was her will power and tenacity. It was after achieving this goal that Ellen married Layton Warnock (dec’d 2005).
Ellen was known to her 5 grandchildren as GOTF (Gramma On The Farm), and they loved spending time with her on the farm during summer vacations. They cherish those days. Ellen and Layton came to spend their winters in Indio, CA, and remained on the farm but eventually moved to Calgary to spend more time with her now extensive family. Ellen was an avid reader, a talented knitter, and her crochet creations were works of art. She loved doing cryptic crosswords, was a lifelong bridge and cribbage player and had a voracious appetite for learning and challenging her mind. As a young girl growing up in the Great Depression, Ellen developed a love of poetry and up until her passing could recite such classics as the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner and the Charge of the Light Brigade. Her iron clad memory, intellectual capacity and fiercely independent nature will remain an inspiration to us all and we will never forget the ingenious and mentally challenging puzzles she would create for us at Christmas.
Ellen will be deeply missed by her son Brian (Melodie) McBeath, their children Kimberley (Pat) Kelly and their daughters Katie, Jessica and Meaghan, Darin (Katie) McBeath and their children Logan, Emery and Ellen, and Kevin (Karen) McBeath and their children Joshua, Jacob, Ruth and Mary; by her daughter Anita (Jerry) Aschenbrenner, Anita’s children Tami Gostola (Trent Locke) and Michael Gostola (Carla Shaw) and their children Noah and Maelle, Anita’s stepsons Barry (Winny) Aschenbrenner and their children Michelle and Matthew, Brent (Lynette) Aschenbrenner and their children Mitchell and Jared, and Brad (Jill) Aschenbrenner and their children Carter, McKenzie and Hayley. She will also be fondly remembered by her stepdaughter Cindy Warnock, as well as her numerous nieces, nephews and their children. Ellen was predeceased by her parents, Theodore and Christina Engman; sisters Marie Engman, Signe Engman, Coral (Engman) Thomas, and Elsie Engman; and brothers Alwon, Theodore and Terry Engman.
Special thanks go to Dr. K. Ly and staff at the Foothills Hospital and to her favourite Home Care provider, Alice Vandenberg, who did so many kind and caring things for her at the Colonel Belcher.
A private celebration of her life will take place sometime in the future when all family members can be safely gathered. In lieu of flowers, Ellen would’ve preferred that a donation be made to the Salvation Army (https://salvationarmy.ca/).
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