Obituary of Mary Ruth Lamon (Enger)

Mary was born in Lamont, Alberta, March 11, 1935 to parents Metro & Helen Nicholychuk. She grew up throughout rural Alberta &B.C. In 1950 Mary moved in with her sister Lillian in Edmonton where she worked at several different jobs, mostly cooking and waitressing. She lived in Endaco, Edmonton, Lacombe, Wainwright, Heinsburg, finally settling in Lloydminster in 1954 with her then husband Spencer Russell Enger. Over the next several years Mary was blessed with five loving children, Wade, Charmaine, Kim, Darcy, and Derrek. With Walter Vincent Lamon, she was again blessed with a son, J.J. in 1970. When Mary was not caring for her family and friends, she worked as a bartender in the Villa, Prince Charles, and Capri Hotels. Later on in life she put her love of cooking into her occupation by working as a baker at the Donut Hut. She always said that the scars on her arms from the baking ovens constituted her “resumé”. She loved meeting and working with the public – she was always kind, courteous, and attentive. Mary’scompassion knew no limits as she never failed to offer words of encouragement to family, friends and strangers alike. She loved working with people; it inspired and energized her. Anyone who ever met Mary admired and loved her for her pleasant nature and friendly demeanour. Mary loved to play bingo, board games, cards and the odd time, slot machines. We always knew when Grandma had a good hand when we played cards; she tried to be cool and unassuming but a poker face she lacked absolutely. When she held her cards close and mentioned several times that her hand was lousy yet again, we knew we were in for it. We loved this quirk about her. Mary was very competitive and we loved that about her too. For those of you who have ever played against her children, you know the apple didn’t fall very far from the tree. Since she loved to be active and working all the time her retirement in 1993 did not stop her from working outside of home. In 1994 she took on the janitor position at our business and worked there until her passing. Whenever she could, she loved to have her family gather for holidays and summer BBQs (her potato salad and BBQ ribs were legendary). Whether Halloween, Christmas, St. Patrick’s Day, Valentine’s Day or other holiday, she and Wade loved to decorate the house in the appropriate theme. One of her greatest joys was spending time with her children and her grandchildren. Mary loved to babysit her grandchildren when her health permitted. Her unbounded attention, dedication and caring were never absent whenever she was surrounded by those who loved her dearly. Mary was predeceased by her father Metro in 1958 and mother Helen in 1984; her brother John Nichols in 1988 and brother Nick Nichols in 2005; her brother-in-law Barney Heisler in 1995;her nephew Greg Dexter in March 2010; her sister-in-law Faye Nichols in 1997 and VickyNicholaychuk in August, 2011. Mary was a fighter to the very end. She passed away after a brief battle with cancer on August 20, 2011 at the Lloydminster Hospital. She will be supremely missed by her spouse of over 44 years, Walter Vincent Lamon; her children Wade Enger, Charmaine (Larry) Sondrol, Kim (Sandy) Sokalofsky, Darcy (Laura) Enger, Derrek (Sheri)Enger and JJ (Pam) Lamon; grandchildren, Christopher and Terry Sokalofsky, Ami and Angela Amato, Davin and Ashley Swift, Travis and Tatum Enger and Nate and Tori Lamon. She was also blessed with two great grandchildren, Julien David Amato and Kati Cash Amato-Kimm; four brothers Max (Charlotte) Nichols, Bill (Eleanor) Nichols, Ed(Marilyn) Nichols, and Pete Nikolaychuk as well as two sisters Lillian (Barney) Heisler and Irene (Bill) Dexter as well as numerous nieces, nephews and friends.