In loving memory of Carol Anne Orvis (nee Henshaw) (1935-2021), her family is holding a virtual celebration of life on Tuesday July 6th at 11 am (central time zone).
Due to COVID, this is an online service.
Please RSVP your intent to join the virtual service at this evite address:
http://evite.me/uKwj7zPNNB
Please test your computer ahead of time to ensure you can use a Google Meet session, and come wearing pink or blue— Carol’s favourite colours.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests all donations be made to Canadian Cancer Society through the Stevens Funeral Homes P.O. Box 412, Dryden ON P8N 2Z1. Condolences may be posted on Stevens Funeral Homes Facebook page or at www.stevensfuneralhomes.ca.
It is with hearts broken that the family of Carol Anne Orvis (nee Henshaw)
announce her sudden passing on January 17th at 3 pm at the Michael Garron
Hospital in Toronto. A celebration of life will be held in Dryden, ON, at a later
date as determined by her family.
She is survived by her husband Roy, children Sally (Blayne), Alan, Cary
(Cheryl), Brad, Shelby and Guinevere (Allen); her grandchildren, David, Sarah,
Amanda, Megan, Madison, Melody, Kara, Thomas, Joshua, Stephanie, Jeremy, Isla
and Adeston and her great grandchildren Novalie, Louie-François, Blaire, Naomi,
Ava, Armaund, and Taneal.
Carol was born July 6th, 1935, at her home in Streatham in south London,
England to parents Thomas Anthony Augustine Henshaw (1900 – 1967) and Sarah
(Sallie) Henshaw (nee Motler) (1904-1982). She was the eldest of four children
and adored her siblings Ian Paul Napier Henshaw (1938 – 2001), Sally Ross (nee
Henshaw) (1939 – 1996) and John Henshaw (1945 – 2019) who lovingly called her
Cas.
Carol immigrated to Canada in 1956 aboard the S.S. Ivernia, landing in
Montreal, where she took the “The Canadian” CPR train to Sudbury and had her
first swim in Canada in Lake Ramsey, before continuing on to Biscotasing, ON.
It was there she met Algernon (Algie) Woodworth and resettled in Dryden, ON
where the two were married and had four children; Sally, Alan, Cary and Brad.
Sadly, Algie passed in 1969. Carol lovingly cared for her four children on her
own, demonstrating a tenacity that she carried with her throughout her days.
In 1970, Carol was taking a course at Confederation College in Dryden where she
met Roy Orvis. Roy and Carol dated for only two weeks before Roy proposed
saying he knew he had met the love of his life— so why wait? They married in
December of that year and had two more children together, Shelby and Guinevere.
Carol and Roy celebrated their 50th anniversary just last month.
Carol & Roy honeymooned in Barbados, where the two of them fell in love with
the Caribbean. They would visit many countries in the Caribbean and around the
world, becoming globetrotters and making many beautiful memories with family
and friends, celebrating the people and cultures everywhere they would go. She
would tell you to visit the islands of Grenada, Bonaire, Dominica and Maui in
your lifetime, if she could.
Carol survived a great many things in her life. She lost a husband, her
siblings and many close friends. She lived through World War II as a child in
England, she suffered from mental and numerous physical health issues that
nearly took her life. But she did more than push forward— she would find her
footing after every loss and, like a perennial, she’d bloom again. She was
never defined by her traumas, but by her ability to get back up and re-ignite
her passions again and again.
She moved to Toronto with Roy in 2015 to have access to the medical resources
both of them needed in their advanced age that couldn’t be found in a small
town, and be close to her youngest daughter and her family. She loved the city
and wrote a poem about its wonders. Her family calls this time her “bonus
years”— time she wouldn’t have had had she stayed up north. True to herself,
she didn’t waste a moment of it.
Carol made everyone she met feel welcome. Even before her passing, people would
remark at her ability to make anyone she saw feel as though they were the most
important person she encountered that day, and how she made everyone feel like
family— there was always room in her home for anyone who dropped by. Much of
the community in Dryden knew her because of her love for everyone. She was a
staunch supporter of human rights and health for all, and donated to Doctors
Without Borders for decades. She would be honoured if you donated to Doctors
Without Borders or the Canadian Cancer Society in her memory.
She loved our planet, tended to her garden, owned 300 house plants and made it
an annual tradition to go to the greenhouse every mother’s day with Guinevere
and later on also her daughter-in-law Margot, with whom she could talk about
flora for hours. She loved being a teacher, always speaking fondly of her
students, years after retirement. In retirement, she found occasions to teach
whether that be the English language, art or Tai Chi to others.
She held a passion for everything and wanted to soak up any experience she
could. She was a scuba diver, Tai Chi instructor, dancer, private pilot, poet
and a remarkable painter. She loved the arts and would go to the theatre,
concerts and movies as often as she could. She was always listening to and
singing along with music; the soundtrack to her life was music you could dance
to.
Fortunately, up until her final days, she was healthy and vibrant; loving
life and people as she always had. It was only the week that she passed that
she suddenly developed concerning symptoms and was sent to hospital for tests.
It was there we tragically learned that she had late-stage untreatable
gallbladder cancer. She went into hospital Friday and passed that Sunday.
She didn’t pass alone; her youngest child, Guinevere stayed at her side, doing
what she could to care for her. In Carol’s final four hours, Guinevere played
her mother’s favourite songs for her. Song after song Carol would listen to the
music that gave her joy. The music eased her mind and moans of pain gave way to
delicate hums to the pitch of the music.
She left us, singing.
