On, Tuesday, June 23, 2009, Charles passed away peacefully at the Dr. Gendreau Memorial Personal Care Home in Ste. Rose du Lac at the age of 80 years.
Charles was born on December 7, 1928 at Meadow Portage, Manitoba, the eldest child of Jim & Elsie Spence who had a family of nine. Because of the separation of his parents in 1943, Charles was forced to leave home to seek work to help his mother care for the family. He was 15 years old at the time. He found work in the logging camps of Northern Ontario. With his work, he was able to help his mother through a time of severe hardship.
Charles was able to secure employment for his next oldest brother Gordon and together they were able to purchase a house and a quarter of land for their mother in Spence Lake on the shores of Lake Manitoba. This land still belongs to the Spence family and it was always a great source of pride for Charlie to come home and see the “old place” as he always referred to it.
Charlie worked as a logger for most of his life, but his other love was commercial fishing on Lake Winnipegosis and Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories. In the late 1970′s Charles met and married Clare Azure of the Pas, Manitoba. They bought a home in Bowsman and unfortunately their marriage ended in 1990. Soon after Charles met Alice Jones of Bowsman who would turn out to be the love of his life. Together they enjoyed a happy life, to their retirement, and into their senior years.
They enjoyed maintaining their house and yard and socializing with their many friends and neighbors. Alice passed away in 2007 and that same year, Charles was admitted to the Dr.Gendreau Memorial Personal Care Home in Ste. Rose due to poor health.
The kindness and the high level of care from the staff of the Dr. Gendreau Home, and the companionship of his special friend Arlene Hammer helped him make a smooth transition to life there. Charles developed stomach cancer in 2008 and after a long battle he passed away on June 23, 2009.
Charles leaves to mourn his passing his brother Ken and wife Blanch Spence of Spence Lake along with numerous nieces and nephews and extended family.
A memorial service for Charles was held on Monday, June 29, 2009 at 2:00 PM from the Notre Dame de Toutes Aides Roman Catholic Church, Toutes Aides, Manitoba. Fr. Norberto Monton celebrated the mass. The service concluded at the church with the interment to take place at a later date.
Should friends so desire, memorial donations may be made in memory of Charles to the Dr. Gendreau Memorial Personal Care Home in Ste. Rose.
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