It was on March 1 following Earl Dreeshen’s gala event at the Innisfail Golf Club to hand out commemorative medals from the coronation of King Charles III when I found Rita Nicholson Kemp amongst a huge crowd.
Rita, at 92 years young, was one of 25 special citizens to receive a medal, and her love of history was just one reason why she was being honoured.
Another was because she was an enthusiastic devotee of flowers, and she made that perfectly plain to me when I asked her how she felt about being a beloved - yes, absolutely beloved - recipient for the historic King Charles III Coronation Medal.
“I’m completely surprised. I thought it was about my flower service around being the flower lady of Innisfail,” Rita said with a slight chuckle.
I then gently reminded Rita that her devotion to local history as an author and heritage preservationist must have also been a key factor.
“You need to know your history to know where you're going,” she said.
And then I commented to Rita she was already wearing the medal on her soft blue blazer.
“I will wear it proudly forever,” Rita replied. “It goes back to heritage again. You have to be thankful for where you came from and appreciate it.
“I guess that is where I fit into it because I'm part of what the nation is built on, and the next generation will be standing on my shoulders and the rest of the recipients’ shoulders.”
Forever humble and grateful Rita continued on with her day, and no doubt went back to Autumn Grove where she had been living contently for the past few years, enjoying life with friends, embracing visits from loving family members and taking care of flower beds.
Sadly, Rita passed away peacefully on June 23, 13 days shy of her 93rd birthday.
Her last known public appearance was at the Innisfail Mayor’s Garden Party on June 3, an appearance mayor Jean Barclay embraced.
“I am going to miss Rita. She personified grace, class, compassion towards others, humility, and gratitude,” the mayor told the Albertan. “Rita was a wonderful role model for all of us and she has left an incredible legacy in how life should be lived.”
And gratitude for life and living was a cherished Rita trait that was heard at a moving Celebration of Life service for her on July 7 at the Innisfail United Church.
“I honestly can't think of a single encounter that I had with Rita where there wasn't some element or expression of gratitude on her part,” said Rev. Tammy Allan to an audience of more than 200 family members, friends, and grateful Innisfailians who honoured Rita’s service to the community. “That was integral to who she was as a person of deep, abiding faith. Gratitude was at the core of her being.
“All who knew her can attest to that,” added Allan. “Even the simplest things brought out those expressions of gratitude.”
And then there were the flowers, an enduring symbol of the way Rita carried herself for more than 92 years of glorious living.
“She told me that she believed that flowers were God's kisses,” said Allan. “That was after expressing her gratitude to me for sharing photos with her of my husband's flower garden a couple weeks ago in the hospital.
“It was such a simple thing to show her those photos. Yet, she was so grateful.”
And for that, in all its beautiful earthly simplicity, Rita has taken her rightly earned flight to heaven with a well-earned kiss from God.
Johnnie Bachusky is an editor with The Albertan.