Obituary of Elaine Margaret Young

Elaine Margaret Trautwein was born Saturday, May 2, 1936 to Gustav & Mollie in Leader, Saskatchewan. She was raised there with her sisters Eleanor, Marilyn and Carol, and her brother, Bob. She developed her tireless work ethic early in life while growing up on the family farm. Elaine had many interests and a great sense of fun. She traded some housekeeping duties in exchange for voice lessons from Mrs. Sargent. She had a close-knit group of school chums that were always going to each others houses after school to play games and cards and have snacks. She was very independent and level headed even at a young age. During a time when it was not the norm for a 16 year old girl to move so far from home all by herself, Elaine decided that's what she wanted to do. She borrowed money from her Uncle Albert and boarded the train to the big city of Calgary to find a place to live and enroll in a LPN course. After graduating she returned to Leader to work in the hospital. She had a lot of fun living in the nurses residence and made many good friends there. They went to dances and sports days, and had wiener roasts. She was an avid reader, a regular badminton player and always enjoyed music. She sang in the United Church choir and was a CGIT leader. She enjoyed fashion and her great sense of style always made her look put together. During this time she met Dave Young. After they got married Elaine moved to Compeer and switched careers from nursing to busy farm wife and mother. She genuinely enjoyed her kids and spent a lot of time being a wonderful supportive mother to Joan, James, and Rob. There were many fun summers spent in Cypress Hills Park and some family trips to Hawaii. Elaine also had a soft spot for the animals on the farm, especially the pet cats we had and even a pet turkey called Skippy that would sit beside her and follow her around. She was always an active person that would curl, bowl, and go for walks with her neighbor. Elaine enjoyed traveling to Mexico and Hawaii and spent some winters in Arizona with Joan. Throughout the years, Elaine and Dave had a close marriage with deep friendship and respect for each other. They enjoyed each other's sense of humor and liked having lively discussions and debates over coffee at the kitchen table. That strong bond carried on even when Alzheimer's took hold of Elaine and lasted until Dave's death in 2012. Even in the late stages of the disease she would always recognize Dave and have the biggest smile for him when he made his frequent visits to see her. On March 20, 2015 Elaine passed away at the Provost Health Centre Long Term Care at the age of 78 years. Elaine will be lovingly remembered and dearly missed by her children, Joan Young, James Young and Rob (Tina Wolfe) Young; sisters, Eleanor Clarey, Marilyn (Morley) Clarey and Carol (Wendel) Wickenheiser as well as extended relatives & neighbors. She was predeceased by her husband, Dave; brother, Bob Trautwein; brothers-in-law, Mar Clarey and Jim Young.