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A family-oriented lady

Winifred Watling (c) with her twin daughters Judy and Jane. Photo courtesy David Mills. ____________________________________________________________ Winifred Watling’s family was the centre of her life, her son-in-law David Mills says.




































Winifred Watling (c) with her twin daughters Judy and Jane.
Photo courtesy David Mills.
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Winifred Watling’s family was the centre of her life, her son-in-law David Mills says.

Watling died in hospital Sunday after being hit by a city bus at the intersection of McIntyre and Ferguson streets.
Police are investigating but no charges have been laid.

Mills said Watling, who had lived on her own in a Worthington Street apartment, was “a very special” person.

“She was a family-oriented lady, she was a homemaker who enjoyed knitting and embroidery work, that kind of thing, and enjoyed having her family over for Christmas dinners,” said Mills, who has been married to Watling’s daughter Suzanne for almost 43 years.

“Her family was very important to her.”

Married for 39 years
Watling was born Winifred Salmonson June 30, 1915, in Rumford, Maine, Mills said, but moved to Temiscamingue, Que. with her family as a young child.

Her father Victor and other relatives worked at a pulp and paper mill there.

The family also owned a camp on McLaren’s Bay, which is part of Lake Timiskaming, which Watling continued to use as a cottage for vacations and getaways.

In 1937 she married Reg Watling, a North Bay man who also worked at the Temiscamingue mill. They were married for about 39 years and had four children, Suzanne, twins Judy and Jane, and one son, Alan David.

Reg died in 1976, just six weeks after the couple had moved from Temiscamingue to North Bay.

Tight family circle
Mills said Watling was "very kind and giving," and concerned for other people, "but she was always part of her tight family circle,” Mills said.

Watling loved cats, Mills said.

“When I first met the Watlings they had two large black cats that were certainly part of the family,” Mills said.

Strong family ties
Watling, who always kept herself meticulously groomed, Mills said, would have been appreciated by anyone who valued the “old fashioned” way of life.

“She wasn’t a person of any show or grandeur and she was satisfied with just seeing her family grow, and the basics of life were quite sufficient for her,” Mills said.

“Her legacy is that she helped build very strong family ties.”