Daisy Patricia (Kindree) Steer

Daisy Patricia Steer (nee Kindree) passed away peacefully in her home in the Haven Hill Retirement Centre, Penticton, BC, on Monday, June 12, 2023, after a long and brave struggle with dementia.  At passing, Daisy was comforted by the presence of her daughter and granddaughter, and the good news of the birth of a 2nd great grandchild.  Daisy is survived by her beloved children, Ed Steer and Susan Steer LeBlanc, grandchildren Kathleen, Sarah and Pascale, and great grandchildren, Sadie and Benjamin, as well as by cherished nieces, nephews and their families.  Daisy was predeceased by her husband, Charles Steer, and by her parents, Harvey Kindree and Mary Walmsley Kindree.

Daisy was born on December 29, 1925, the only child of Harvey and Mary Kindree (nee Walmsley), who had homesteaded north of Glenboro after the First World War.  Daisy graduated from Glenboro High School, worked as a supply teacher, then as an operator at the Carberry telephone office, before marrying.  After her first marriage ended, Daisy returned to the Glenboro area, where she worked as a housekeeper to support her two young children.  In 1958, Daisy married Charlie Steer, a carpenter from the Stockton, MB, area.  Together, they built a good home, gardens and a life together with their two children, in Glenboro, where Daisy enjoyed some of the best years of her life.  Both Charlie and Daisy continued to work, and for some years, worked together as custodians of the Glenboro School until their retirement in 1970.  Daisy and Charlie then enjoyed their first major vacation together, a trip to England to visit family, and more free time, until Dad passed in 1972.  Daisy mourned her husband, learned to take care of house and yard on her own, and gradually began to travel again with family members and friends in Canada, to England and the southern States, to visit other family members and friends.  During those years, Daisy also offered steady support to her father, Harvey Kindree, who also lived in Glenboro.  After her father’s passing, and some good years in Glenhaven Manor and the Glenboro Personal Care Home, Daisy’s declining health inspired a move in 2018 from Glenboro, MB, to Penticton, BC, to live close by her daughter, a move that made them both very happy.

Daisy’s family remembers her as hard-working and well organized, a thoughtful and supportive person, whose constant companions were CBC radio, local newspapers, dictionaries and maps, as well as the gardens surrounding her home, and the United Church down the street.  Through her skills, values and hard work, Daisy enabled her children to participate in the local United Church, its choirs and youth groups, take piano lessons, prepare for and compete in several Tiger Hills festivals, and dare to try new endeavours, including applications to participate in interprovincial student travel, which changed her children’s lives.

Daisy was a dedicated and accomplished gardener who, with Charlie, fed their family and beautified their yard.  Daisy taught her children – and others - to garden, to conserve water, to appreciate the value of birds, butterflies and bugs, and showed them the value of homegrown food.  For years, she enjoyed participating in the garden produce and flower competitions at the annual Glenboro Fair, and was delighted with her wins. 

Daisy was a lover of language, word jokes and games (think cross word puzzles and Scrabble!), and of thinking and writing.  In her youth, she wrote stories and won several writing competitions, sponsored by the Winnipeg Free Press. In those years, again thanks to the Free Press, she also established some lifelong penpal friendships with young ladies in several parts of Canada, including Prince Edward Island, Alberta and British Columbia, who she visited during her adult years; these included a penpal still living in the Kootenays, BC.  In the 1970s and again in the 1990s, Daisy researched and wrote her Kindree and Steer family histories, which were included in the Glenboro community history volumes:  Beneath the Long Grass, and Beneath the Long Grass:  25 Years Later.

As well as working for a living, Daisy was a longtime volunteer, offering her services to the United Church, the Board of the Glenboro Coop, Glenboro Recycling initiatives and the beautiful Community Garden, where she spent many hours with friends, digging, planting, watering, pruning and cleaning up.  Daisy was an ongoing supporter of international children’s charities that were funded through local school initiatives, and of the annual Terry Fox walks; she led us, by example, to be concerned about the situation of others around the world.  Daisy loved the outdoors and walking, especially in the Spruce Wood park, and spent many happy hours exploring there, with friends.  Daisy also loved ice cream, and summer walks could often end with a visit to the Glenboro Drive Inn to enjoy a cone!   In Penticton, too, Daisy was happy to go for walker and wheelchair strolls along Okanagan Lake and the Rose Gardens, where birds, flowers, trees, families with children and pets, and ice cream were also readily available.  Even in her last months, Daisy continued to be happiest outdoors, enjoying Haven Hill’s lovely patios, trees and fresh air.

Daisy was a loving grandmother, who delighted in writing and receiving letters, and in visiting with her children and grandchildren.  She made great efforts to do so, despite the cost and the distances east (New Brunswick) and west (Alberta and BC).  She visited often and, each year, at birthdays and Christmas, Daisy would prepare Vinetarta cakes from scratch, wrap and pack them with great care, and post them to her very fortunate children and grandchildren – a wonderful treat and an amazing feat of organization and determination.  Mum’s love of Vinetarta – and all things Icelandic - came from her lifelong friendships with dear Icelandic neighbors living in the Glenboro area, and was reinforced by their travel to Iceland together.

Daisy’s family would like to express their heartfelt thanks to the cheerful, skilled and supportive care teams in both the Glenboro Personal Care Home and at Haven Hill in Penticton, as well as to Daisy’s loyal family and friends from Manitoba, and her loving care companions, “Team Daisy”, who brought Mum so much enjoyment and sense of community during her later years in residential care.  We are very grateful to you, for your warm and constant friendship, care and dedication to our Mother’s well being.

Daisy Steer’s community celebration of life in Penticton will take place September 24, 2023, 2 pm, at the Oasis United Church. 

Daisy’s Manitoba celebration of life will take place in the Spring of 2024, at home, in the Glenboro United Church, Glenboro, MB.  Her ashes will be laid to rest with her husband, Charles Steer, and her parents, in the Glenboro Cemetary.  Manitoba service details will be made available on the Jamieson Funeral Services website, Glenboro, Manitoba.

IN LIEU OF FLOWERS, memorial donations to one or more of the following charitable organizations would be greatly appreciated: 

Glenboro United Church, Box 623, Glenboro, MB   R0K 0X0

Glenboro Health Centre, Box 310, Glenboro, MB   R0K 0X0

Glenboro Area Foundation, Box 147, Glenboro, MB   R0K 0X0

Alzheimers Society of Manitoba, 10 – 120 Donald Street, Winnipeg, MB  R3C 4G2 

(NOTE:  In-person donations can also be made by visiting the Society at its Westman Region Office, at Unit 4B – 457 9th Street, Brandon, MB  R7A 1K2.)

The family is very grateful for the kind and professional supports of the Glenboro United Church, and of Jamieson’s Funeral Services of Glenboro, who are in care of arrangements.

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