One of the sad senior happenings is the fact the longer one lives, the more relatives and friends one loses. My mother-in-law, who died at the age of 90 years, told me this a long time ago and she was right. But, though she always took life as it is, it always saddened her when people passed away at a younger age than her own.
Just recently, the Harison Hot Springs Choir (the Harrison-Kent Community Singers) and the Harrison Hot Springs Social Club lost one of their members: Dody Tighe. Dody had not been well for some time and had to take her oxygen bottle along wherever she went. How she managed we will never know, but Dody had a lot of willpower.
I remember the evening Dody came to the choir for the first time. We were practicing at the Kent Elementary School in Agassiz. She wanted to audition even though we told her that we normally do not ask for this. And so, I happened to be one of the few people who were there when she sang a song she obviously liked very much. It was "Black, Black, Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair" — not an easy song, but she sang it to perfection. What caught our attention most, however, was her voice: strong and soft at the same time, it came across in a haunting way one could not easily forget. Later on she often sang solo parts, as for instance in the song "Northwest Passage".
But Dody had another hobby: playing cards! And so, over time, she also became a member of the HHS Social Club. She once told me: "These two functions have become a big part of my life!"
I think that her very last outing was to the Social Club, just a few days before she died. Of course, another function which Dody faithfully supported were the bi-weekly sing-alongs at Logan Manor in Agassiz organized by Renate Schwanke.and for which Dody put together song books. In spite of her handicaps, Dody attended to local events as much as possible and she surely would have been at the Octoberfest put on by Logan Manor! Dody could not be there, as we all know, and we could have been sad, but Dody would not have wanted this. And so, we all raised our glasses and sang a toast to our courageous lady with a beautiful voice.
Last, but foremost, our sympathy goes out to Dody's husband, Jack, and her two brothers.