Obituary of Elsie L. Ozmun

Elsie L. Ozmun
1937 ~ 2024

With heavy hearts, the family of Elsie L. Ozmun (nee Harper) sadly announce her peaceful passing on February 16, 2024, just five days short of her 87th birthday.

Mom was born to Thomas and Jessie Harper (nee McLeod) in Birch Hills, Saskatchewan and raised on the family farm in Winton, Saskatchewan. Mom went to school in a one room schoolhouse, in her lower grades. Her high school years were spent staying with the Major family from Mondays to Friday because she had to cross the south Saskatchewan River to attend school at PA Central. Crossing the river meant she had to ride high above the water in a wooden trolley box. Mom loved sports as did her siblings. With that love they all acquired a very competitive spirit. She and her siblings played hockey on an ice pond and swam in the river. She helped her mom with meals, and we often heard how she would sweep the dirt outside their door, just to please her mom. She helped care for her siblings as there always seemed to be a baby around. Losing her mother at fourteen turned her life upside down. With her three older sisters no longer at home Mom was left to care for her dad and siblings until her sister Darleen returned home from Bible college. In early 1957 she met our dad William Ozmun from Kinistino, Sask. After graduating high school, that same year, they married. Shortly after their marriage they moved to Calgary, Alberta. It is there that they started a family. Lynn arrived first followed by Debra and then Wendy. In 1968 they moved back to Birch Hills where they remained until both of their passing. Mom was a wonderful mother! She spent many hours cooking fabulous meals with many of these recipes passed down to us girls, our children and daughters-in-law. Life wasn’t easy for mom! I remember how mom would spend many hours heating water and washing our clothes using an old wringer washer then hanging them outside to dry. No matter how hard life was for mom and dad, us girls never went without! They always had money to enroll us in swimming lessons, figure skating, hockey and supplying endless amounts of gas for our snowmobiles and boat. During the summer mom always had us on the go to the family cabin at Emma Lake and a week at Candle Lake in a rented cabin. Mom was a deep and proud fan of both the Montreal Canadians and the Saskatchewan Roughriders! Maurice Rocket Richard was her number one hockey player, but she was very proud of a small-town Saskatchewan farm boy Geordie Howe! Ron Lancaster and George Reed would be the ultimate favorite Roughriders for her! Mom loved the Lord and was deeply religious. She spent many hours reading the Bible and praying. She never missed paying her tithes, even when money was scarce. Mom’s pride and joy were her five grandchildren. She would always have them at the lake and every evening was ended with an ice cream float. If you thought she couldn’t be prouder, along came her five great grandchildren. Visits were her highlights and if visits weren’t an option she loved looking at pictures and watching videos of them! She loved every one of her family deeply and compassionately.

Elsie leaves to mourn her daughters Debra (Trevor Wessel) and Wendy (Jim Dean); son-in-law Gaylen; her grandchildren Skylar (Colbi) and Stephanie, Bodee (Amanda), Destinee (Ryan) and Chance; great grandchildren Kayden and Karson (Bodee’s), Bentley and Ryker (Skylar’s) and her only great granddaughter Elizabeth (Destinee’s); her sister Eunice, brother Allen and youngest sister Sharon (James); her special niece Jamie; her sisters-in-law Krystal Harper, Marlene Harper, Claudia Pearson, and Faye Ozmun; and her father-in-law Bill’s third wife Josephine Wichihin.

She was predeceased by her husband of 51 years William; her oldest daughter Lynn; her parents Thomas and Jessie Harper; her parents-in-law Bill and Eva Ozmun; her siblings and their spouses, Darleen (Thomas) Shilling, Delphine (Errol) Cummings, Ken Harper, Floyd Harper, Stella (Al) Litterick, Yvonne (Gerald) Carson, and Tom Harper; her sisters-in-law Georgine Harper and Loretta Naytowhow; her nephews Kip Knutson and Dwight Harper; and great nieces Dana Swenson and Jessica Stephen.

Elsie will be deeply missed and lovingly remembered by many family and friends who knew her and had a role in her life. Mom will be laid to rest, at 2:00 p.m. on May 11, 2024, at the Birch Hills Cemetery, all are welcome to attend. A luncheon will follow at Duane Lowe Community Center. 

Funeral arrangements are entrusted to the care of Gray’s Funeral Chapel, (306) 922-4729 Paula Hanson, Funeral Director, and Mary MacWilliams.