Obituary of Gwendolyn Mills Wood

Gwendolyn Gay Parfitt was born in Grandview Manitoba on March 12, 1932. Her parents Walter and Minnie Parfitt has four daughters, Jean, Gwendolyn, Marjorie and Elda. She grew up first on the farm then in Grandview. Upon graduating high school, she worked in the post office. Soon she met Robert Eugene Mills and moved near him and his family in St. Mary’s Ontario. They courted for nearly a year before they married in 1953. During that time she worked in a bank. Once married they moved to Saskatchewan, living in numerous small towns like Canora, Hanley, Luseland, Melfort, Estevan and Meadow Lake, raising three children, Nancy Lorraine (1955), Larry Eugene (1957) and Terry Elton (1963).
Gwendolyn began sewing as a toddler when her father acquired a pedal sewing machine, and she became an accomplished seamstress, a skill she plied her entire life.
She was always active in service organizations like the Order of the Royal Purple and Canadian Girls In Training, but especially in the United Church of Canada. Eventually she became a lay minister, working in many presbyteries throughout Saskatchewan.
Eugene predeceased her in 1995. In 2001 she married Jim Wood. Together they ran dance parties for many years, before he passed away.
Gwendolyn died October 15, 2024. She is survived by her children Nancy (Donald), Larry (Deborah) and Terry (Shannon), eight grandchildren and seventeen great grandchildren, and her sister Elda and brother Stephen (Ruth). She is survived by her youngest sister Elda, and her half brother Stephen (Ruth).

Memorial contribution may be directed to Parkland Place Residents Council, Melfort,Sask.