CHALMERS: The death of Earla Arlene Chalmers, loving wife of Ron and dear mother of Brent and Scott, occurred at the Brandon Regional Health Centre on Wednesday, May 25, 2005. The Ceremony to Celebrate Arlene's Life will be held at Central United Church, 327-8th Street, on Saturday, May 28, 2005 at 2:00 p.m. Rev. Joan Jarvis will officiate. Interment will follow in the Brandon Cemetery Columbarium. Friends who wish may make a donation in memory of Arlene to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada, Box 21047, Brandon, MB R7B 3W8 or to the Canadian Cancer Society - Manitoba Division, 193 Sherbrook Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 2B7. Complete obituary information will follow.

CHALMERS: It is with profound sadness that we announce that Earla Arlene Chalmers, our treasured wife, mother and friend has passed away after a courageous war with cancer and Crohn's disease on May 25th 2005 in Brandon Regional Health Center. Arlene was born in Glenboro, Manitoba on May 7th 1937, the second daughter of the four children born to Earl and Marjorie Tosh. Her parents farmed, and her early education was in one-room country schools. She attended high school in Minto until grade eleven, and was sent to complete high school in Brandon at St. Michael's Academy when her father decided she was attending too many bonspiels and not enough school. After a year of permit teaching at Langvale, north of Margaret, she enrolled in the first teacher training courses held at Brandon University. She then taught in Charleswood in Winnipeg, and at Ninette where she met the love of her life, Ron Chalmers. They married in 1959 and moved to Westbourne where Ron and his five year old son Brent lived. Their son Scott was born in 1960, around which time Arlene's lifelong battle with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease began. In 1964 they moved to Brandon, and Arlene resumed teaching at Central, JR Reid and Meadows Schools until health problems again necessitated an extended leave from the profession. Arlene was an avid and accomplished curler, and remained a curling and hockey fan when the demands of more than a dozen serious surgeries stopped her participation in most sports. Many of her happiest years began when Ron retired in 1988. After spending winters in Arizona and Vancouver Island, they settled into the Winter Texan life at Magic Valley Park in Weslaco Texas. There they spent some 14 years enjoying the sunshine, golf, camaraderie and laughter. During that time, they found time to travel to Australia, New Zealand, Britain and some of the Pacific Islands, as well as many parts of Canada and the United States. Arlene was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, and the Ladies of the Brandon & District Shrine Club, and had a particularly fond place in her heart for the Ladies of the Brandon Shriner's Car Patrol. Most importantly, Arlene was a superbly supportive nurturer, mother and grandmother, a dedicated and loyal friend, and one of the kindest people to walk the earth. Although she was not demonstratively religious, she had a sense and value of God, and the beauty inherent in nature. She loved flowers, particularly roses, and birds, particularly robins. She faced her all too few final days courageously and undaunted by her knowledge of the inevitable outcome, with her only concern being the welfare of those she was to leave behind. In the end, she had defeated cancer four times before succumbing to a final cancer ambush, weakened by decades of IBD. She is survived by her husband Ron; sons Brent (Nonie) of Didsbury Alberta, and Scott (Silje) of London, England. She will be sorely missed by her grandchildren Gallagher, Gavin, Erin Beth and Selina. She also leaves to mourn her mother Marjorie, sister Donna Velander, and brothers Ken and Wayne Tosh, brothers-in-law Dick Velander, Harvey and Frank Chalmers, and sisters-in-law Myrna and Carol Tosh, Merle Anderson, Maureen Hagen and Bev Chalmers. Arlene was predeceased by her father Earl in 1999. The family, directed by Arlene's wishes, express our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Dr Jay Duncan of the Brandon Clinic as well as to her former doctors Dr Al Elliott, Dr Bill Meyers, Dr. Ben Sutter, and Dr Bob Thorlakson of Winnipeg, to whom she gave credit for many additional years she otherwise would not have had. A farewell and celebration of Arlene's life will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday May 28th at Central United Church, followed by a family internment of her ashes in the columbarium at Brandon Cemetery. If friends so wish, donations may be made to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada, 60 St. Clair Avenue East, Suite 600, Toronto, Ontario M4T 1N5 (www.cfcc.ca) or the Canadian Cancer Society, 193 Sherbrook Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 2B7 (www.cancer.ca). Expressions of sympathy may be forwarded to memorieschapel@mts.net. Memorials
Chrohn's and Colitis Foundation, or Canadian Cancer Society