Obituary of Anne Spas

On Oct 2, 2015, Anne Spas (nee Wrublewski) of Glace Bay passed away in Antigonish. She was predeceased by her spouse Maurice Spas, and is survived by Daughter Sharon Klassen, Grandchildren Erik and Dana, and Great Granddaughter Thea, all of Ottawa, and by her well-loved nieces Donna, Kitty, Leslie, Patricia (Morrison), and Debbie - daughters of her twin sister Vonda Dunn of Glace Bay. Although Anne’s final years were marked by the ruthless progression of Alzheimer’s disease, she was indeed fortunate to have been so very well looked after by the most caring Staff of the R.K. MacDonald Nursing Home. For much of her time there, Anne was most often found helping in the kitchen and elsewhere, and organizing local outings, cheerfully trying to make a better place for others. Anne’s parents were part of the first wave of Polish immigrants who came to Cape Breton to work in the coal mines, and so determined was her mother to stay in Canada, Anne and her sister literally arrived on the Sidney docks, July 22, 1929. In Glace Bay, her father worked in Caledonia Mines and, following his wife’s early death, undertook the most difficult task of raising his twin daughters alone. So it was that Anne and Vonda grew up steeped in the dire poverty of the 30’s, hard-working and strongly catholic, but often hungry with no food in the house and cold in their meagre clothing. Anne left school in Grade 7 to work cleaning houses, married her Glace Bay sweetheart on his discharge from the army - she was 17, and in post-war Brockville, Ontario they settled to work for the Stetson Hat Co. and raise their daughter. To speak with a deaf co-woker, she learned sign language, and the Grade 7 student became Union treasurer - no small thing. When Stetson abruptly ceased business in 1970 they returned to Glace Bay, most glad to be home at last. In the entire world, there was no other place they would rather have been. Together they ran Spas’ Dairy on 58 Brookside St., and over the next few decades Anne was well known to many, serving food to hungry miners and fishermen on their way to - and from, work, and candy in paper bags to generations of school children: she saw all of Glace Bay as an extended family. Anne was always cheerful, always ready to help, and easily found the bright side in any situation. She was a ready participant in the many impromptu, noisy gatherings of family and friends in kitchens, bungalows, and wherever - most especially on the Mira, and she was a faithful and devoted member of Holy Cross Church in Glace Bay. Where the music played, Anne was there and ready, always, even in her waning days. In later years she enthusiastically learned Indian Dance, and in many public shows wore the colourful sari and golden bangles with pride and grace. A Grandmother’s legacy is a precious thing, and in the words one of her grandchildren: "Cape Breton has lost a masterpiece of its community: boardwalk runner, and local business owner, strong Catholic, and indian dance enthusiast, as well as a distributer of ketchup-chips to greedy grandchildren Rest in Peace grandma - may you be reunited with Dolly-on-a-Bun and other friends". Funeral Mass 10:00am Thursday, October 8, 2015 in Holy Cross Church, Glace Bay.