Lois Ann Parypa

After a long battle with dementia, Lois Ann Parypa passed away on January 11th, 2023. Lois was born on July 26th, 1939 on the family farm near Eden, MB. She grew up on the farm and attended high school in Neepawa. After high school, she attended Teachers’ College in Brandon, and got her first job in McConnell. In 1961, she fell in love and married William (Bill) Parypa and moved to Souris where she taught school and he worked for a seed company. In 1963 they moved to the Strathclair area where Lois continued to teach and then she and Bill bought a farm in 1967. Lois then put her teaching career on hold to raise her two children and later went back to work at Strathclair Community School as a teacher’s aide and librarian. Bill and Lois resided on the farm until Bill’s untimely death from cancer in 2000, cutting short their plans to retire and go on camping trips with the mini home that Bill renovated, as well as run their U-Pick strawberry farm. Lois moved into a house in Strathclair and worked at the school until she retired. She loved to walk daily and enjoyed being involved with many community organizations. She was especially dedicated to her role in the United Church and attended conferences in Winnipeg and Thunder Bay, Ont. Later in life, she was blessed to find a wonderful companion and travel partner in Peter Weetman. When they weren’t at home watching the Blue Jays games, she and Peter enjoyed many trips to places such as Palm Springs, Penticton, England, Germany and Greece. In 2018, Lois moved to Valleyview Care Center in Brandon where she resided until her death. She was predeceased by her parents, Bert and Mabel Baker, her brother Ray, her husband Bill and her close friend Peter Weetman. She will be greatly missed and remembered forever by her daughter Karyn (Ian), son Mark (Cindy), brothers Arnold (Joan), Doug (Linda) and Keith (Kym), sister-in-law Orma and brother-in-law John well as many other relatives and friends. Our family would like to express our sincere thanks to the wonderful staff at Valleyview Care Centre who took such fantastic care of Mom for the past four and a half years.