CONNIE PACKER

1938 - 2007

Constance Arlene Packer (formerly Clark) (nee Kowalski), beloved wife of Gordon Packer of Vauxhall passed peacefully into the presence of her Lord and Saviour on Saturday, November 24, 2007, at the age of 69 years, after a very short illness. Her husband and one of her sisters were with her.
Connie was born on a farm near Millet, Alberta, the second daughter of John and Mary Kowalski. Her schooling at the one room school at Big Hay Lake and Millet High School was interrupted when she contracted respiratory paralytic polio in December of 1953. She spent about twelve years in various hospitals in Edmonton, including eighteen months in an iron lung.
Connie moved out of hospital in July of 1965, living first with her mother, and then on her own with twenty-four hour live-in helpers. In October of 1973 she married William (Bill) Clark. She cared for Bill for almost twenty-three years as multiple sclerosis slowly took away his health and abilities. Bill passed away in August of 1996. In August of 2001 Connie married Gordon Packer, and moved from the big city of Edmonton to the small rural town of Vauxhall in southern Alberta, where she resided until her passing. In spite of very limited movement in her hands, she learned to write again, and to paint. She was very active on numerous boards and committees, and taught residential aide students at Grant McEwan Community College for five years. She was active, with her husband Bill, in Kinsmen Club activities. She traveled (sometimes alone) to many places in Canada and the United States (including Hawaii). In her last two years she took up cycling, with her husband pushing her wheelchair with a modified mountain bike.
Left behind to lovingly remember her are her husband Gordon; her two sisters, Blanche McKenzie and Deanna Horbachewsky; her brother Brian (Kendra) Kowalski and numerous aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins.
Connie was predeceased by her parents, John Kowalski and Mary Rozak, and by her youngest sister Beverly (also known as Brooklyn).
Relatives and friends are invited to meet with the family at the Southland Funeral Chapel, 5006 - 48 Avenue, Taber on Friday, November 30, 2007 between 7:00 P.M. and 8:00 P.M.
A Funeral Service to celebrate her life will be held at the Vauxhall Mennonite Brethren Church, 320 - 9 Street North, Vauxhall on Saturday, December 1, 2007 at 11:00 A.M. with Pastor Elroy Senneker officiating. Following the Funeral Service, Connie will be laid to rest in the Vauxhall Mennonite Cemetery.
A Memorial Service will be held for Connie in Edmonton at the North Pointe Community Church, 14025 - 167 Avenue on Wednesday, December 5, 2007, at 2:00 P.M. with Pastor Bob Jones officiating.
If friends so desire, memorial tributes in Connie’s name may be made directly to the Mennonite Central Committee, #210, 2946 - 32 Street N.E., Calgary, Alberta T1Y 6J7, the Canadian Paraplegic Association (Alberta), 1254 - 3 Avenue South, Lethbridge, Alberta T1J 0K1, the Canadian Bible Society, 110 - 11 Avenue S.E., Calgary, Alberta T2R 0B8 or to a charity of the giver’s choosing.