Hulda 'Louise' Cairns

Louise Cairns passed away at Portage La Prairie on October 12, 2022. Louise was born on December 6, 1920 at Saskatoon to Harold and Luella Miller. She spent her early life in Gull Lake and Swift Current, SK until 1929 when the family moved to Preston, (now Cambridge) ON. She finished elementary school in Preston, high school in St. Thomas and college in Guelph, ON.

In 1942 Louise joined the Canadian Women’s Army Corp. While serving she met her future husband David Lawrence Cairns at Camp Barriefield. They were married at Grace Church in Toronto in 1946. Dave was a banker with postings throughout Manitoba after initial stints in Saskatchewan and Ontario.

Louise was predeceased by her parents, her loving husband of 33 years, Dave, in 1979, her youngest son Jeffrey David in 2013, her half-sister Margaret (Wylie) Lewis in Wichita KS in 1978 and her brother and sister–in-law Bill and Bev Miller in 2001. She is survived by her eldest son Richard (Dick), daughter-in-law Elaine and grandchildren Elizabeth and David all of Calgary as well as nieces, nephews and friends all of whom she was very fond of.

Louise was an ardent volunteer for St. Mary’s Anglican Church and for the Portage La Prairie Library. She loved being around others, entertaining, cooking and she always had a joke to tell. She easily made and retained friends through all of Dave’s banking moves and loved and embraced the smaller communities that she and her family were fortunate to have experienced together in their earlier lives.

Special thanks to Louise’s niece Patt Keating, her friend Sylvia Rawlings, her companion Lorene Balch and the caring and compassionate staff at Douglas Campbell Lodge for their love, friendship, assistance and devotion particularly over the past 20 years.

A private graveside funeral service will be held at Evergreen Memorial Gardens, Portage la Prairie, MB.

As expressions of sympathy and in lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Louise’s memory to the charity of one’s choice.

A tree will be planted in memory and cared for by McKenzies Portage Funeral Chapel.  www.mckenziesportagefuneralchapel.com