Deh Cho loses a venerable elder
Derek Neary
Northern News Services
Fort Simpson (Feb 16/01) - Hundreds of people from around the NWT, Alberta and B.C. bid farewell to one of the Deh Cho's oldest and most respected residents earlier this week.
Celine "Granny" Lafferty was laid to rest in Fort Simpson on Monday afternoon following a funeral service at a packed Thomas Simpson school.
Born in Fort Providence on Oct. 22, 1900, Granny had celebrated her 100th birthday last year. Many family members and friends had gathered for that occasion. Even more were on hand Monday.
"It was hard, but it was good to see all the people here," said Granny's daughter Albertine Rodh, who added that the outpouring of support from the community has been tremendous.
Her family recalled many fond memories.
Grandson Charlie Lafferty remembers Granny staying up until the wee hours fashioning items with her knitting needles. Family members would frequently receive gifts of moccasins and duffers.
"She was very artistic. She did everything," Albertine said. "She was a hard-working woman."
They also recalled her remarkable ability to bake large batches of bread in her wood stove.
"You would come out of school at lunch-time and you could smell it. All of us would come running home," said grandson Wayne Rodh.
Granny, whose first language was French, had married Joseph Boniface Lafferty in 1924. They had nine children, four of whom died while young due to illness. She moved to Fort Simpson in the 1940s and raised several grandchildren there.
Having been brought up by nuns in Fort Providence as an orphan, Granny was a strict disciplinarian with her own children, according to Rodh. However, she began to soften with time and began to share Joseph's wonderful sense of humour.
She had worked as a matron for the RCMP and was a regular church-goer. Granny loved playing cards and watching local hockey games.
"She was the biggest fan in Simpson," Wayne said, smiling.
Albertine added, "She never missed a hockey game."
Granny was awarded the Metis Nation's Order of the Shawl in 1996 for helping to preserve Metis traditions and customs.
She had also helped to create the book "Metis Heritage."
