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Henrietta TRENDELL

May 16, 2005

TRENDELL - Henrietta Elizabeth passed away on May 16, 2005 at the age of 101, surrounded by the love of her family. A fourth-generation Canadian, Etta Wood was born on February 25, 1904, in Medicine Hat (then part of the Northwest Territories). Her sisters Florence and Edith predeceased her, but she is survived by her older sister Alethia Barnecut of Calgary. Etta will be deeply missed by her children John and his wife Nancy, Christine, David, and Mary Smith. She was greatly loved by her grandchildren Sharon and Bryce (Laurie) Trendell, John (Wendy) Whittaker, Sue McMordie, Peggy (Peter) Trendell-Jensen, and Christie, Kerry and Booker Smith. Her many great-grandchildren have always held Etta close in their hearts, as do Kim Whittaker and good friends Martha and Chick.


As a young woman at the University of Alberta, Etta was on the basketball team and one of the first women’s hockey teams in Canada. She later taught in a one-room schoolhouse and remembered snow blowing through the cracks in the floor in the winter. Etta worked on a Masters of Fine Arts at the University of Berkley in California and was a student at the Banff Springs School of Fine Art. Painting was never far from the center of her life; she was a talented watercolourist and was still taking art courses in her later years in White Rock.


In 1932, Etta married Anglican missionary Alick M. Trendell and moved with him to various cities in Alberta and B.C. As wife of the Dean of All Saints Cathedral in Edmonton, her entertaining and involvement in parish life was as absorbing as the raising of her four children. Later churches included St. John’s Shaughnessy in Vancouver and St. George’s in Fort Langley, where Alick was the archdeacon of the Fraser Valley. They retired to a wooded acreage in White Rock, where they hosted the Easter egg hunts and Boxing Day parties that remain a beloved Trendell family tradition. Children and grandchildren also cherish memories of spending time with their grandparents on the White Rock beach, playing in the woods and enjoying their flower and vegetable gardens. As her mobility and sight diminished, Etta never complained and her gracious, cheerful attitude will long be an inspiration to us all. We cannot thank enough the staff and volunteers of the Lynn Valley Lodge and Care Centre for their caring attendance and kindness. Etta’s funeral will be held on Friday, May 27 at 2 p.m. at St. Catherine’s Anglican Church, North Vancouver; in lieu of flowers, gifts to CNIB are appreciated.