Grace Maybell was born August 31, 1921 in Grandview, Manitoba, located in the Parkland Region, in a picturesque valley between Duck Mountain Provincial Park and Riding Mountain. Her parents were Cecil and Pearl (Forester) Dempster and she was the eldest of five children; Grace, Alice, Elsie, Adrian (who died as an infant) and June. Cecil and Pearl homesteaded and lived close to Aunt Lily and family.
The “Grand view” area was originally settled in 1890 and September 1900 saw the arrival of the first Canadian Northern Railway train. If the media could portray Grace’s early years it would be the TV show, and book authored by Laura Ingles Wilder, “Little House on the Prairie.” The girls went to a rural public school, of course, and traveled by horse and buggy or riding bareback. Having an early love of both driving and horses, Grace’s responsibilities lay often with taking the team of horses down to the creek to obtain water for the steam engine used for thrashing!
Sadly enough, Grace’s mother died when she was twelve and the Great Depression of the 1930’s hit the prairies hard. Cecil soon moved his young family to Ontario, first to Ironbridge and soon into the Breslau area. It was a major transition for Grace, who originally did not like Ontario, as the trees seemed to close in on Grace, obscuring her view of the horizon and that big prairie sky. Grace began working in Kitchener as a Nurses’ Aid and in one of the five button factories during the war. It is at this time her path crossed with that of Gordon August Klages’, who was also in the area working, and on July 20, 1942 they were married. Grace was twenty and Gordon was nineteen.
Being left motherless at such a young age, Grace learned quickly and well how to bake, cook, preserve and care for family. Their son Don was born in 1944, Wayne in 1948, Dean in 1951 (and died in 1978). Their daughter Sylvia was born in 1955 and Sid in 1963, thus giving Grace and Gordon five children in a span of nineteen years.
Not only was Grace confident in her homemaking skills, she also had quite the entrepreneurial spirit. A challenge arose for the Klages family when they found themselves having way too many eggs for just their family to consume. So, off to market they went and the rest is history, as the saying goes. Having picked up a loaf of bread at the market in Owen Sound, she quickly realized that she could make and bake much better tasting bread than that. It did not take much time for Grace to become well known, if not famous (Grace’s Home Baking), for her bread, buns and baking. Her preparation for Saturday’s market, began Thursday morning and continued, with little sleep until the vehicle left full Saturday morning. She often made a hundred dozen of tarts per week, and would always be willing to make a new type of pie for a prospective client.
In time, they built the store in Mooresburg. While the Klages family had the store, Grace continued her baking business and was also soon approached by the Wathke’s, who asked her to drive school bus. Loving to drive, she quickly said yes and did so for the next twenty-some years. Her driving was not limited to the school bus, as she would often drive heavy machinery too. In fact, she operated a back hoe, at age 70, when preparing a foundation for their new home. Grace had no desire to retire, but she and Gordon did slow down enough to spend several winters in Apopka, Florida and summers with increased peach hauling to many Mennonite communities around Milverton, Mount Forest and Chesley. Often making two trips daily during the prime season. When decreased health forced Gordon and Grace’s constant travelling to slow down, they appreciated the thoughtfulness of their exceptional neighbours, Terry & Joanne Dafoe.
Grace had incredible strength, a good nature, fabulous sense of humour and was very giving. Over all, she was a remarkable lady who loved life. She often encouraged her children to “listen” and “always give what you can.” Grace lead by example, and taught her family that you could do anything you put your mind to. A lot of these characteristics can be attributed back to her Aunt Lily, who was like a mother figure to Grace and of course her Dad. She learned many of the best life lessons right at home!
Losing her Mom at a young age, fighting cancer twenty-five years ago and becoming legally blind (thus losing her driver’s license) were only some of the challenges that Grace met head-on and dealt with as per her name – with the upmost of grace! In all likelihood, reading scripture regularly gave Grace much of her courage. She also enjoyed her weekly fellowship meetings with friends. Her love of music, meant she enjoyed singing hymns and playing any instrument she could get her hands on. Finally, her family was everything to her, and there were very few recent times when she did not speak with all her children on a daily basis, even as recent as this past week.
Sadly, Grace Maybell Klages passed away surrounded by her loving family at South Bruce Grey Health Centre, Chesley on Sunday, June 26, 2016 in her 95th year.
Beloved wife of the late Gordon Klages. Loving mother of Don (Diane) of R.R. #1 Desboro, Wayne (Linnet) of Merritt, B.C., Sylvia Lech of R.R. #1 Desboro and Sid (Jo-Anne) of Chesley. Cherished grandmother of nine grandchildren and nineteen great-grandchildren. Grace will be fondly remembered by her daughter-in-law Vida Klages of Vernon, B.C and her sister June Currie of Kitchener. She was predeceased by her son Dean (1978), sisters Alice Wieland, Elsie Kingsley, brother Adrian Dempster and her parents, Cecil and Pearl (Forester) Dempster.
Visitation will be held at Rhody Family Funeral Home, Chesley on Wednesday from 2–4 & 7-9 p.m. where a funeral service celebrating Grace’s life will be held on Thursday, June 30, 2016 at 2 p.m. with visitation one hour prior to the service. Interment in Chesley Cemetery.
Memorial donations to the Chesley Hospital Foundation or the Heart & Stroke Foundation would be appreciated as expressions of sympathy.
