FLORENCE JOBSON OBITUARY

We sadly announce the passing of our beloved Florence Margaret Jobson (nee Herr) on February 17, 2021 at the age of 85. She is survived by her husband Keith, her children, Tom (Rhonda), John and David; grandchildren, Molly and Peter; brother, Robert (Sharon); cousins, Marguerite (Gordon), Connie (David), Albert (Sharon), Gordon, and Ron (Jane); friend, Margaret (Les); niece, Melissa; nephews, Drew (Cathy), Paul (Shelley), Bruce (Debra), Paul (Mila) and Michael (Leonardo); and many more.

Born in Okotoks, Alberta to pioneer settler families, Mary Stewart and Cliff Herr, this High River Days Glamour Contest winner strode from her pioneer heritage along with the winds of change of the 1960s. A self-reliant and determined spirit, she mastered open kettle canning by kerosene lamp on a mixed farm where she rode her horse Sandy to school with her younger brother. Until her final days she continued on with the family penchant for thrift and meticulousness which she exquisitely expressed through her handicrafts in sewing, knitting, crocheting, quilting, weaving, and spinning (making her own wool from her brother's sheep).

 

She rose from small-town rodeo champ to blending in with the legal community at Columbia University in New York during the Civil Rights Movement while raising a little one. She studied history at UBC and then taught in Hussar, Cochrane and Calgary where she met her future husband, Keith Jobson. Married for 57 years, they lived in university communities and arrived in Victoria in 1975 where he taught law at UVic. Setting her hypermobile gait towards local nature parks with her kindred spirit, Emily, she shared her passion and acute episodic memory of local native flora and fauna, helping to establish Glencoe Cove-Kwatsech Park by her home in Saanich where she raised her children and lived for over four decades. She vacationed around the country and the world with her family and friends. From her mum's recipe binder, she crafted the latest "taste sensation" with her distinctive laugh centered by the family tradition of home-grown food and flowers. She delighted in her extensive network of friends in the arts, education, gardening and church. She enjoyed busy days catching a play or a musical performance and volunteering with Luther Court, Quilters Guild, Gordon Head Garden Club, First Unitarian Church, and Goward House.

Mum died peacefully at home with friends and family - budding red camellias above Baby's Tears and the twittering of Anna's hummingbirds during a sunny break outside her bedroom window across from the forest at Kwatsech. A service will be held at a future date.