Mary Magdolene Frie

On June 20, 1931, Mary Magdolene Frie (nee Schleppe) was born to Balthasar and Julianna (nee German) Schleppe. She would be their second youngest of 9 children who lived through infancy. Her mother said that three others died when they were "just little”. When Marie was about 6, her family moved from their homestead farm on Rosebud Creek, near to Beiseker, Alberta, to Kelowna. There her father built a house for them, not far from Immaculate Conception Church. She missed her first year of school because she had been ill with Scarlet Fever. At the age of 21, she headed to Victoria to be trained as a nurse at St Joseph's Hospital, and graduated in 1954. Her parish priest had given her the $100 needed to register for the training. She was very homesick in Victoria, and would tell the story that a religious Sister said it was a sign that she was from a good family.

It was in Victoria that Marie met Robert Whittemore and they married on June 30, 1956, giving life to three children, Wayne, Siusan and Scott. The family was raised in Saanich, on 3/4’s of an acre, where the couple had a house built. In the mid-60’s, they also bought a small piece of property right on Kemp Lake, in Sooke, and built a cabin there, with the faithful company and help of Jim and Bev Perrin. That was a place Marie really enjoyed, swimming, water skiing, playing cards, drinking wine, and the many outdoor activities her children were engaged in, like fishing and picking blackberries. For about 30 years she worked as a Registered Nurse, initially it was mostly part-time, and then full-time as her children grew up and became more independent. She first worked at St Joseph’s Hospital, and later at the new Victoria General. She liked nursing and made some good friends through it.

In the mid-80's, Marie moved back to the Okanagan and married Denis Frie. They worked together at his engineering business. She enjoyed being in the Okanagan, where she was living closer to many of her siblings and their families. A few years after his death, she returned to Victoria to live with her daughter, who looked after her for 3 1/2 years. Marie was admitted into Mount Saint Mary Hospital in the Spring of 2024. It would be the same general location of residency where she began her life in Victoria, in nurses’ training.

Marie had a stable personality, and was a thoughtful, thankful, positive soul, whose Catholic faith was significant to her life. She was always a hard and conscientious worker, and liked by many people. She had a few cars that she enjoyed, but especially a sporty Subaru. She liked to travel, snow ski, camp in a recreational vehicle, garden, socialize, cook and keep her house clean. She always dressed well and took good care of her children, both of her husbands, herself, and anything that was hers. She was probably one of the best mothers a child could have.

She passed on from this world on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, December 8, at Mount St Mary Hospital, and is survived by all of her children: Wayne (Michelle), Sai and Fr Scott, and her grand-daughter Brianna, all being Whittemore’s.

A Funeral Mass and the interment of her cremated remains, both in Kelowna, are being planned. Please pray for the repose of her soul.