Obituary of Charlotte Loraine Bostock
Charlotte Bostock passed away peacefully Saturday, October 7th, 2023, after a brave battle with cancer, at the age of 66. She passed surrounded by her loving family in the Innisfail Hospital. She was the second child of Margaret and John Bostock, a Christmas baby born in 1956 at the Holy Cross Hospital in Calgary.
Charlotte was an entrepreneur and an artist. When her kids were little, she would take them along as she sold jewelry, knitting, and woodwork at the farmers market. She later started and ran her own house cleaning business until she retired due to health issues. Charlotte would knit/crochet baby blankets for the hospital, toques and mitts for the homeless, helped serve supper at the Mustard Seed once a month and was always happy to help her congregation with various charitable events. She enjoyed collecting rocks and driftwood, biking, fishing, reading, gardening, photography, knitting, and woodworking. Charlotte brought so much love and compassion to the world as a mother, grandmother, friend, and Christian. She was never one to judge others and lived life with an inquisitive mind.
Charlotte grew up in Airdrie after the family moved there in 1961 from the Crossfield area. Her bedroom was painted lilac and overlooked the porch into the garden. The garden was full of flowers tended to by her mother, and her father was keen on planting vegetables. The girls often helped them with work such as shelling peas and picking beans! They often travelled to her mom's family in Crossfield to visit them on the farm on Sundays and rotated family homes for Christmas. Her Dad was a farmhand who often took Charlotte and her sister to ride around the field with him as he did swathing, making and picking up hay bales in the summer. Her bright green rubber boots came in handy when visiting the farm. She was a shy child and often followed her older sister around. They were two peas in a pod!
After graduating high school in Airdrie, she moved to Calgary with her uncle Ray and his wife Barb, where Barb helped her get her first job as a data entry clerk. She was strong and independent, moving into an apartment shortly after with her high school best friend, Carol. She later moved to Edmonton for work and did odd jobs while making friends, her closest being Teri. It was a friend of Teri’s that she was house-sitting for when Elvis died in 1977, and not long after that, a friend needed a ride west. So, she packed up her Camaro and travelled to Vancouver. With a desire to see the ocean, she ended up on the Wreck beach. It was a nude beach, and no, she did not get naked! Charlotte met some other beach bums and they camped down on the beach just below the UBC, where they would sneak up through a heavily forested area, past giant slugs, and raid the campus gardens. Eventually, they moved to Vancouver Island and stayed in Victoria for a while, and then moved to Nanaimo. She enjoyed the beach and first tried blackberries fresh off the bush during her time there. It was on Vancouver Island where she first found Jesus after reading The Last Temptation of Jesus Christ, but she didn’t know what came next.
In 1978, she moved back to Innisfail, and her sister helped her get a job at Johns Manville. It was while working there that she met the father of her children, Steve. They built a home on a small section of Steve’s father's farm near Dickson and had Jared, Annie, and Derek. Her children (and grandchildren) were her everything.
It was in 1990, when she was 33, that she first attended church. Jared was about 2 years old and she was pregnant with Annie. Charlotte was invited by her mother-in-law Sheila to Bethany Lutheran Church in Dickson. However, where she learned a lot was when she moved to Innisfail and started going to the Pentecostal Church, a much different experience. Her love for Jesus was never-ending. She enjoyed attending bible studies and had a vast collection of bibles in her home, all of which she had read and often more than once! Charlotte’s favourite part of the Bible was The Book of Proverbs, and the bible verse “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” Jeremiah 29:11.
Charlotte is survived by her sister Shirley, eldest son Jared (Danielle), daughter Annie, youngest son Derek (Emily) and his children Olivia, Claira, Lily, and Theodore, and extended family and friends. She was predeceased by brother-in-law Dale, parents Margaret and John Bostock, and other extended family.
Memorial Donations may be made in Charlotte Bostock's name to The Mustard Seed, 6002 54 Ave, Red Deer, AB T4N 4M8. The family wishes to send a special thank you to the staff at the Innisfail Health Centre for their care and compassion.
A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, November 18th, 2023, from 11:30 AM to 4:00 PM at the Royal Canadian Legion, Innisfail, Alberta. Condolences to Charlotte’s family may be emailed to meaningful@telus.net . Please indicate “Bostock“ in the subject line.
Arrangements in care of
Meaningful Memorials Funeral Service
A locally owned cremation and funeral provider
serving Red Deer and all of Central Alberta
587-876-4944