Obituary for Dixie-Lee (Bowman) Blackwood
Dixie-Lee (Bowman) Blackwood was born October 31, 1939 just after midnight in Melfort, SK at Lady Minto Hospital and passed away on Wednesday, July 8, 2020 at around 11:20PM in Vancouver, BC at Vancouver General Hospital with her daughter by her side. Her death was unexpected, and she, and her family and friends, thought she would rally and be around for many more years to come.
A proud Canadian and pure Scandinavian of Swedish and part Norwegian roots, Dixie-Lee was predeceased by her father, Alvin Oscar Bowman (original Swedish spelling: Boman), her mother, Kristina Violet Walborg (Linn) Bowman, and her brother, Edward Bowman. Dixie is survived by, loved dearly, missed, and will always be remembered by, her only child, daughter Karmen Blackwood and Robert Flores, many loving relatives (Bowmans, Linns, Randins, Morbergs, Blackwoods and Flores’) and wonderful friends from all throughout her life and work, and her former husband, Ken Blackwood.
Born in Melfort, SK, Dixie moved with her family to Port Moody, BC at around age seven, and went to school and high school there. She then moved with her family to Vancouver in her later teens, and she lived most of the rest of her life in the West Point Grey neighbourhood of Vancouver, with the exception of two years she and her husband, Ken, who was a helicopter pilot, lived in Calgary in the early 1960’s right after they got married. Dixie attended Pitman Business College in Vancouver after high school. While living in Calgary, Dixie worked for Golden Eagle Oil & Gas, and in her early career in Vancouver, she had worked for CP Railway, CP Airlines, Dueck’s on Broadway, James Richardson’s, and then she spent the rest of her career – 37 years (1966-2003) – working for Air Canada, first in ticketing in downtown Vancouver in the early years, and then at Vancouver International Airport for most of her career, as a Customer Service Agent, with many years working in the International and Trans-border Maple Leaf Lounges. She was proud to work for Air Canada and made many wonderful friends over the years there and met so many interesting people.
Dixie was the best daughter, best mother, best sister, best cousin and best friend, and she was absolutely beautiful, both inside and out. She was one of those remarkable, unforgettable, “once in a lifetime” people, which makes her passing so very hard for those of us left behind, and for whom she was our rock. Dixie was so loving, kind, humble, positive and good-natured, strong, smart, wise, brave, independent, supportive, inspiring, hard working, honest, resourceful, creative, pragmatic, upbeat and bubbly, real and authentic and down-to-earth, and absolutely selfless when it came to her family, who she loved with all her heart and was so proud of. Dixie had a very sharp mind, a quick wit and a very youthful spirit and mindset, right up to the end. She had such a beautiful smile and lovely warm and vivacious personality that lit-up any room she entered and made you feel special and like everything would always be OK.
Dixie loved her family above all, and she had a great sense of humour and loved to laugh, she loved good music and good times spent with family and friends, she loved travel and adventure, she loved her home and garden, she was a great cook who loved preparing delicious meals for family (and she baked the best apple pies in the world!), and she loved animals and nature and the little birds that she would see in her garden.
Dixie was such a giving, loving and supportive mother and did everything for her daughter Karmen, and she was such a wonderful and devoted daughter to her mother, and her family. Dixie’s advice was always to “love yourself and be proud of who you are, trust yourself, believe in yourself, always think positive and see the glass half full, be strong, keep your head up no matter what life throws at you, don’t worry (it’s a total waste of time – it gives you something to do but gets you nowhere), don’t ever envy anyone, be smart (and be ‘street smart’ - don’t let yourself be taken advantage of), don’t take anything too seriously and don’t take anything personally (take it all with a grain of salt), know when to laugh, save your money and pay yourself first (put money into savings and pay your bills), don’t live beyond your means (don’t overspend, just buy what you need), always be careful and stay safe (park under a light, near others, lock your doors), appreciate what you have and don’t pluck your eyebrows (or you’ll regret it!)”
Dixie-Lee is absolutely irreplaceable and is missed beyond words; life will never be the same without her. “I will love you with all my heart forever, Mom. You have always meant everything to me. My arms are always around you.”
As per Dixie’s wishes, she was cremated and there will not be a funeral, however, a celebration of her life for family and friends will be arranged in the coming months. (In lieu of flowers, for those who may wish to do so, family and friends might consider making a donation in memory of Dixie-Lee to the Kidney Foundation of Canada (BC Branch), the Heart & Stroke Foundation of BC, or the Canadian Diabetes Association (BC Branch). Thank you.)
A proud Canadian and pure Scandinavian of Swedish and part Norwegian roots, Dixie-Lee was predeceased by her father, Alvin Oscar Bowman (original Swedish spelling: Boman), her mother, Kristina Violet Walborg (Linn) Bowman, and her brother, Edward Bowman. Dixie is survived by, loved dearly, missed, and will always be remembered by, her only child, daughter Karmen Blackwood and Robert Flores, many loving relatives (Bowmans, Linns, Randins, Morbergs, Blackwoods and Flores’) and wonderful friends from all throughout her life and work, and her former husband, Ken Blackwood.
Born in Melfort, SK, Dixie moved with her family to Port Moody, BC at around age seven, and went to school and high school there. She then moved with her family to Vancouver in her later teens, and she lived most of the rest of her life in the West Point Grey neighbourhood of Vancouver, with the exception of two years she and her husband, Ken, who was a helicopter pilot, lived in Calgary in the early 1960’s right after they got married. Dixie attended Pitman Business College in Vancouver after high school. While living in Calgary, Dixie worked for Golden Eagle Oil & Gas, and in her early career in Vancouver, she had worked for CP Railway, CP Airlines, Dueck’s on Broadway, James Richardson’s, and then she spent the rest of her career – 37 years (1966-2003) – working for Air Canada, first in ticketing in downtown Vancouver in the early years, and then at Vancouver International Airport for most of her career, as a Customer Service Agent, with many years working in the International and Trans-border Maple Leaf Lounges. She was proud to work for Air Canada and made many wonderful friends over the years there and met so many interesting people.
Dixie was the best daughter, best mother, best sister, best cousin and best friend, and she was absolutely beautiful, both inside and out. She was one of those remarkable, unforgettable, “once in a lifetime” people, which makes her passing so very hard for those of us left behind, and for whom she was our rock. Dixie was so loving, kind, humble, positive and good-natured, strong, smart, wise, brave, independent, supportive, inspiring, hard working, honest, resourceful, creative, pragmatic, upbeat and bubbly, real and authentic and down-to-earth, and absolutely selfless when it came to her family, who she loved with all her heart and was so proud of. Dixie had a very sharp mind, a quick wit and a very youthful spirit and mindset, right up to the end. She had such a beautiful smile and lovely warm and vivacious personality that lit-up any room she entered and made you feel special and like everything would always be OK.
Dixie loved her family above all, and she had a great sense of humour and loved to laugh, she loved good music and good times spent with family and friends, she loved travel and adventure, she loved her home and garden, she was a great cook who loved preparing delicious meals for family (and she baked the best apple pies in the world!), and she loved animals and nature and the little birds that she would see in her garden.
Dixie was such a giving, loving and supportive mother and did everything for her daughter Karmen, and she was such a wonderful and devoted daughter to her mother, and her family. Dixie’s advice was always to “love yourself and be proud of who you are, trust yourself, believe in yourself, always think positive and see the glass half full, be strong, keep your head up no matter what life throws at you, don’t worry (it’s a total waste of time – it gives you something to do but gets you nowhere), don’t ever envy anyone, be smart (and be ‘street smart’ - don’t let yourself be taken advantage of), don’t take anything too seriously and don’t take anything personally (take it all with a grain of salt), know when to laugh, save your money and pay yourself first (put money into savings and pay your bills), don’t live beyond your means (don’t overspend, just buy what you need), always be careful and stay safe (park under a light, near others, lock your doors), appreciate what you have and don’t pluck your eyebrows (or you’ll regret it!)”
Dixie-Lee is absolutely irreplaceable and is missed beyond words; life will never be the same without her. “I will love you with all my heart forever, Mom. You have always meant everything to me. My arms are always around you.”
As per Dixie’s wishes, she was cremated and there will not be a funeral, however, a celebration of her life for family and friends will be arranged in the coming months. (In lieu of flowers, for those who may wish to do so, family and friends might consider making a donation in memory of Dixie-Lee to the Kidney Foundation of Canada (BC Branch), the Heart & Stroke Foundation of BC, or the Canadian Diabetes Association (BC Branch). Thank you.)