Marie Nodge died peacefully on March 8, 2023 at the age of 105 after a very happy and full life. She was predeceased by her husband Paul in 1984, and her siblings Billy Case (Martha), Ralph Case (Eva), and Josephine Price (Bob).
Marie Rose Case was born during a blizzard on January 8, 1918 on the family farm near Welwyn, SK. She became a Registered Nurse in 1940 in Yorkton, SK, and the same year married Paul Nodge. They moved to Swift Current in 1941 where they started a thriving secondhand store and then in 1945 began a farm implement business known as Nodge Manufacturing, which is still in business today under new ownership.
Five children were born between 1941 and 1960 – Ken, Isabelle (Jim Wright), Jean (Dave Cyca), Jim (Jacquie) and Gord. Marie enjoyed a dozen grandchildren – Jenny and Paul Wright; Sahra, Matthew and Lars Nodge; Luke and Jillian Cyca; Jocelyn, Ted and Bob Nodge; and Julia and Phoebe Nodge, as well as ten great-grandchildren.
Marie had many interests and lots of energy. She raised bees and supplied honey to her friends, she sold fir trees, learned to swim in middle-age, golfed and curled and served on the SC Hospital Board. She was a valued volunteer at the Wellness Clinic for many years.
With her good friends she was a member of Swift Current’s longest running Ladies’ Investment Club, when each lady risked $5.00 a month in the stock market. She enjoyed the business and the socializing at these meetings well into her nineties. Marie was active in Book Clubs and especially Bridge Clubs even in her advanced years. She was a great walker and was seen outdoors in all weather.
Marie was a very competent co-pilot and earned her pilot’s license shortly after her husband received his. From the 1950’s to the 1980’s they flew their light aircraft across Canada and the US, often spending Christmas in Texas, Florida, California and Mexico, sometimes with three or four children piled into the back seat. They also flew north all the way to the Arctic Ocean, following the MacKenzie River and camping beside their Cessna 180 along the way.
Marie sometimes piloted the little plane herself and was known to fly to Rosetown with her youngest son in tow, to have coffee with her friend Blanche Moxley. She would return home before the other kids arrived home from school.
Paul and Marie were active members of the International Flying Farmers and made many good friends in that organization, which Marie represented as Queen in 1959.
Their biggest adventure was flying their Cessna in 1962 all the way from Swift Current to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Their friends Raymond and Kay Carefoot shared the 4-seater plane and Russ Karels accompanied them in his small aircraft. The 6 week trip over the jungles of Central America and the Andes Mountains was certainly an unusual and daring accomplishment in the early ‘60’s, as it still would be these days.
Marie’s biggest legacy will be her cheerful personality and positive attitude towards life. She was a role model for many, and even more so in her advancing years. She didn’t create stress for herself or others. She was practical in all matters and was known for her good advice when it was requested by her children and grandchildren.
Our mother enjoyed her last years at Willow Creek Manor, often telling her family she ate well and slept well and had no worries and no pain. We thank the staff there for her care. Marie will be greatly missed and will be remembered with love and admiration by many.
Arrangements entrusted to Warren's Funeral Home, for further information please call 1-306-773-8831 or 1-800-267-6606, or visit our website at www.warrensfuneralhome.com and express your sympathy to family members on the tribute wall.