Sunday, October 18, 2015
I want to express my deepest sympathy to Darcie, Eric, Carla and the rest of Olga's family. I am very sorry for your loss.
I had not seen once Olga since she retired from the villas until I ran into her by chance last year at Shopper's Drug Mart. Surprised to see her, I called out to her and said "Hi, Olga." In typical Olga fashion, she replied "How in the hell did you recognize me after all of these years ??!!" I talked with her for a few minutes and, as always, laughed at her sense of humour. Her stories always made me laugh.
I was a nursing student when I first met Olga. I was honestly quite scared of her at first because I thought she was quite gruff. But I very quickly grew to like her and her sense of humour and looked forward to working night shifts with her. She was always a very hard worker and provided really good care to the patients. I learned a lot from her over the years and she helped me often when I was a new staff with routines I was not familiar with. What I looked most forward to were her stories on night shift when our work was completed and we had some down time. Countless times I laughed so hard during those shifts that my sides were stiff and sore the next day. Honestly, she had everyone laughing so hard they had tears in their eyes. It was an absolute pleasure to work with Olga over the years. Coupled with Linda Breadner, they should have charged admission to hear the two of them talk about past experiences on the ward. It was absoluteley hilarious. Those are my best memories of Olga and there are many, many of them. I will remember her fondly because of them. She will be dearly missed.
May you find strength in family and friends and comfort in your warm memories of Olga. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your families.
Kern, Cheryl, Grayson and Eden Tourney
