Gwendoline (Gwen, Wendy) Dora Mary was born August 15, 1948, in Paradise Hill, Saskatchewan. She was born to Art and Dot Barradell and was the youngest of 6 siblings (Pam, Pat, Ron, Shelia, David). 

 She attended school in Lloydminster. At the age of 15 she met her future husband to be Dennis Alvin Parasynchuk and they were married on July 10, 1972. In 1967, the first of her four children was born, a son David Michael, followed by a daughter Melinda Christine in 1971, son Darcy Cameron 1974 and finally son Robert Jason in 1975. 

She graduated from Nursing in 1970.

During these early years of marriage while raising a young family, she worked full-time at Lilydale, Co-op,the Aberhart, enjoying time at Perch Lake with her sisters and their families and being the loudest, proudest fan at her kids’ sports games. Six years after her first love Dennis passed away, she married Clifford Hourie on June 7, 2007.

Her career ended with dedicated service as a Nurse at the University of Alberta Hospital after 28 years.

Over the years, she enjoyed baking, cooking, knitting, playing bingo, camping, hunting and watching sports. But most of all she loved family gatherings and spending quality time with her husband, kids, and grandchildren. She was so proud of her 19 grandchildren and had a special bond with each of them.

(Brandon, Kimberly, Evan, David, Bradley, Brittany, Jordan, Alyssa, Farrah, Jennah, Olivia, Mirrah, Lyllah, Rooke, Layne, Kyrssa, Shauna, Keisha, Sierra and Antoine). 

She was also a proud “Gigi” to her eight great-grandchildren (Serenity, Raelynn, Skylar, Bennett, Kiera, Idris, Kai and Lily). 

Hunting was one of her many loves that she began with first husband Dennis and that carried on with husband Cliff, her son Bobby, daughter-in-law Rhonda and grandson Rooke. She also enjoyed countless camping trips with her family and friends. 

“Gma” had a significant influence on all her grandkids especially Alyssa (chickadee) and Brittany (muffin) who will miss her dearly. 

We will miss so many things about mom that it would take a novel to fill, but some of the things we will remember fondly is her cooking, perogies, chili, mushrooms and cream, dough dogs and molasses cookies. 

She was outspoken and referred to as the “family newspaper.” If you ever wanted to know anything about life, the news or family gossip – you would just ask mom. 

Mom was a huge sports fan. She watched everything from her own kids playing sports to the Olympics, Blue Jays, Eskimos, Oilers and NFL especially the Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts her son Darcey and Bobby favorite teams. 

Mom lived a full life and impacted everyone she met in life from nieces, nephews, cousins, neighbors, co-workers to friends. She had a very special relationship with all her children. 

David being the eldest was her “right hand man” with helping take care of his siblings when Dennis was out of town. They both shared a great sense of humor and were always laughing. 

A bond that only mother-daughter could have with Melinda. Mom taught her the love of motherhood, cooking and knitting plus Mom always kept her in line. 

She loved watching Darcey play his hockey and football. Every Sunday she cheered on his favorite football team and adored all his girls. 

Mom and her baby: Bobby talked daily and carried on the tradition of hunting and fishing while texting during every Oilers game. 

There will not be a day that goes by that we don’t think about you mom. You left us a lifetime of memories and were the strongest woman we knew. You taught us about hard work, strength and to not be afraid to speak our minds. We will continue to support each other and stick together as a family, as you watch is from above as our guardian angel. 

We would like to most recently thank the Doctors and nurses for mom’s care. In lieu of tributes please direct to Pilgrims Hospice in Edmonton. www.pilgrimshospice.com