Obituary of Gay Muriel Davies

DAVIES (LAWRENCE) – Gay Muriel passed away peacefully from this life on Wednesday November 22, 2023, at the age of 70 in Watrous, Saskatchewan. She is survived by her children Trina (Cliff Nietvelt), Christopher and Karen; her mother Shirley Lawrence-Skolnik; sisters Brenda Lawrence (Phil Bourque), Sandra Schaan (Lawrence) and Carolyn Neudorf (Eldon); as well as loving extended family. She was predeceased by her father Percy Lawrence and grandparents Osvald and Karen Graae; James and Pearl Lawrence.

Gay was the eldest of four daughters of Percy and Shirley Lawrence. She was born on June 5, 1953, which also happened to be her grandparents’, Osvald and Karen’s, 25th wedding anniversary. She was doted on by family and enjoyed her childhood years where she spent weekends and summers on her grandparents’ farm near Colonsay helping out and playing with all of the animals. She especially loved the sheep and the horses, and that love lasted her whole life. In her late teens she married Philip Davies and they went on to have children Trina, Christopher and Karen.

Gay was very organized and hard-working. She worked numerous jobs to provide for her family, including working at Millar’s Flowers and the book warehouse Midwestern News in Saskatoon. In the late 1980s the family moved to Edmonton Alberta. In Edmonton she devoted a great deal of her time and energy to the lives of her children. She provided fresh-baked goods and a sympathetic ear to many of Trina’s artist friends in her kitchen. She helped Christopher with his paper route and always made sure that he had space and time to play with his friends. She was a lunch lady at Karen’s school and was very involved in her school activities. In the mid 1990s the family moved again to Vancouver British Columbia. In the late 1990s Gay and Philip divorced and Gay moved to the country, to resume her love of the rural life. She purchased a beautiful property in Chilliwack BC and raised sheep, goats and many other animals who didn’t have anyone to care for them, including dogs, rabbits and a cantankerous llama named Elvis.

Gay returned to Saskatchewan in the mid 2000s, moving with her the whole flock of sheep which she could not bear to leave behind. She enjoyed her time living on an acreage in Martensville and embarked on a new career as a health care aid working with vulnerable senior citizens. She was most happy when she could be of service to and care for others, whether that was her children, partners, friends, family, uncountable pets and livestock or the numerous seniors she cared for in long-term care homes or through homecare.

Her later years were spent beside the healing salt water of Manitou Beach. Gay’s life ended where it began, on the prairies surrounded by family. At her request there will be no funeral. She will be interred beside her grandparents and her father in the Colonsay cemetery on a future date. We will continue to love her memory and will miss her very much. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the SPCA or the Canadian Cancer Society.