Kliner, Olga

  General Notes:

The following biography was graciously submitted by Brenda (Olinyk) Ducharme (Olga's granddaughter):

Olga was the youngest of the family, she spoke often of the beautiful gardens that her father grew and how he was her best friend. They were a very musical family and Olga loved to play the Balalaika (the sound is similar to a harp). She considered herself a tomboy... loved to run and feel the wind on her face. Her love for running and playing didn't extend to the water, in fact, Olga never liked the water. One day she explained... as she was coming home from elementary school, the mean girl in the class pushed Olga into the river. She couldn't swim and nobody else saw or could hear her to be able to help... As you can imagine, this incident had a lasting effect!

Life was hard during the Russian Revolution, Olga was only 17 when her mother died (1923), the next year her father sold everything ... they left Poland on August 21, 1924 and arrived by ship in Montreal, Quebec in September. From here they made their way to Fort Frances, Ontario to be with the family, and from there on to Lemberg, Saskatchewan. Her oldest brother, Freidrich was the only one to stay in Germany. At 19 Olga worked as a house keeper for a family in Lemberg - they helped her learn English. She later found her way to Prince George, British Columbia where her sister Lydia and husband Anton Ivashko lived. Olga took a job doing house work for Mr. Thomas Turner. She'd walk for miles back and forth to go to work. Thomas had three sons... Tom, Charles, and Gordon. Mr. Turner and his three little boys held the key to her future... on July 22, 1930 at the age of 24 she married Thomas.

They lived on a farm in Prince George with 5 more children of their own and later moved to Coquitlam in 1944. Olga was very involved with the church, where she'd make quilts with the other women and loved being in the choir. She also loved having her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and, as the years passed, a growing number of great great grandchildren come to visit. She always had time for them and any other family and friends that would come to visit. Olga had a natural way of making everyone feel so special! The love in her heart, and in her home, was obvious to all who knew her.

Olga enjoyed spending her summers picking blueberries. She loved the colour green, gardening, embroidering, Chinese food, The Swiss Chalet restaurant (there was just something about that chicken she couldn't resist!), playing bingo, butterflies, music and - most of all - her family. She also had a passion for travelling - one of her dreams, which she fulfilled, was to visit the Holy Land. Once a year she would take the bus to Reno and - win or lose - enjoyed herself immensely! She particularly loved to go back to Fort Frances to visit her wonderful brother Henry, they had so much fun together.... In between these trips, every chance she got, she'd go camping in the motor home with her family touring many different places. Later in life, Olga became interested in carpet bowling, and displayed an exceptional talent for the sport and participated in many competitions locally, as well as winning gold in the B.C. Senior Games. When Olga was 75 she met Mickey Mouse in Disneyland. Olga was always busy, never bored and believed that life has so much to offer !!!

  Burial Notes:

Ashes spread on the waters between Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia, Canada.

  Noted events in her life were:

• She was born July 1, 1905 in Warsaw, Poland (Or Russian Empire).

• She immigrated August 21, 1924 to Canada. From her arrival in Montreal, Olga went to Fort Frances to be with family and then on to Lemberg, Saskatchewan.

• Marriage: July 22, 1930. ⁴⁰ Olga married Thomas Appleton Turner. The couple took a taxi from Prince George to Quesnel to be married because there was no court house or Justice of the Peace in Prince George at the time.

• Sporting Awards: Carpet Bowling, February 1991, Duncan, British Columbia, Canada. With three team mates, Olga won a gold medal at the B.C. Senior Winter Games.

• Died: August 9, 1997, Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada.

• She was cremated about August 15, 1997 in Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada. ^1,4 Olga requested that her ashes be spread on the waters between Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Family members carried Olga's ashes aboard a B.C. Ferry crossing from the mainland to Vancouver Island. Enroute the ferry stopped for a few minutes while the family scattered her ashes and placed a few roses on the water.

Olga married Thomas Appleton Turner July 22, 1930 in Quesnel, British Columbia, Canada ^1,4.^,40 (Thomas Appleton Turner was born September 14, 1871 in Beaverton, Ontario, Canada,^1,4 died December 22, 1964 in Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada ^1,4,29 and was cremated about December 30, 1964 in Dalton Township, Victoria County, Ontario Canada ^1,4.)