Patti Skillen

With acceptance and curious about what lies ahead, I left this earth on January 12, 2010 “to boldly go where so many have gone before”!  I leave behind my parents, Pat Skillen (Ann Wieler) and Velma Walton (Mark), my sister Pam Matatall (Brent), brother Martin Skillen (Pam), much loved nieces and nephew:  Melissa, Paige, Morgan and Liam, and numerous aunts and uncles and cousins.
I was one of those very fortunate people who got to do the work I loved.  Although many days had a little too much work and not enough play, the fact that I was able to help many people along the way was a source of great and lasting joy.  This includes my time as the Township of Pickle Lake’s Clerk-Treasurer, assistant to Bob Nault, MP and Minister of Indian Affairs and finally fighting for the human rights of Canada’s Aboriginal People while supporting the National Chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples.  I never planned this career – it came to me as a blessing – and I am truly grateful to all those people who gave me the opportunity to make a difference.
I feel no sadness or regret for the life I lived well, however short it may have been.  To be freed from illness is a gift. I accept it with gratitude and peace.
Funeral Mass was held Monday, January 18th at 11:00 a.m. in St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church with Rev. Alan Campeau officiating. Interment of ashes will take place at a later date. Wake followed in the Riverview Lodge.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Dryden Regional Health Centre (oncology or CT Scan Fund), Villa Rosa in Winnipeg, or the Trillium Gift of Life Network through the Stevens Funeral Homes “Moffat Chapel”, P.O. Box 412, Dryden, ON P8N 2Z1.
Condolences may be
e-mailed to sympathy
card@shaw.ca subject: Skillen.
Van Morrison said it best in “Sense of Wonder” and so I will borrow my last words from him:
“Didn’t I come to bring you a sense of wonder?
Didn’t I come to lift your fiery vision bright?
Didn’t I come to bring you a sense of wonder in the flame?”
Love to All, and Blessed Be.