Grace Heyding
Grace Heyding: Stock trader. Grandmother. Baker. Volunteer. Born Aug. 29, 1927, in Saskatoon; died Oct. 23, 2017, in Kingston, Ont., of natural causes; aged 90.
Going to Grandma Grace's house was like spending a vacation in a bakery. The fridge and pantry were packed with treats, from ginger cookies to brownies, from fresh bread to cherry pie. The baking supplies were meticulously organized: flour, sugar and other ingredients were stored in large sparkling tins, a measuring cup at the ready in each. Her cupboards looked like the baking aisle of a supermarket.
Grace Heyding (whom we called GG for short) probably inherited her organization from her father, who bought a grocery store in Saskatchewan after immigrating to Canada. Being the daughter of a grocer did not, however, mean all-you-can-eat treats. Her parents had immigrated from the unstable Chortitza region in Russia so no food went to waste. Past-due produce was a staple for Grace and her two older siblings.
Library books were also a staple of their household. Grace and her sister Elma loved to read but were never allowed to buy new books. "Why would you do that when you can get them for free?" her parents would ask. The girls became regulars at their local Saskatoon library.
Grace also loved games and played everything from bridge to cribbage to gin-rummy all her life. You could see her brainpower come to life during Scrabble: Nobody added up total letter points faster. No one gave better financial advice either. Grace studied the business section of the paper every day, using a magnifying glass to analyze the stock numbers. She was still trading up to her 89th birthday.
Grace studied at the University of Saskatchewan, which is where she met Donald Heyding. During a chemistry lab, she cut her finger on a broken beaker. Don, the lab teaching assistant, came to her rescue. They were married in 1947 on Friday the 13th. Getting married on the unluckiest day of the year was Grace's type of humour.
Their first child, Robert, was born in 1949, and as Don pursued his career in chemistry, the family travelled. Their first stop was Montreal, then Ottawa where their daughter Joan and youngest son Stuart were born. Holland followed. Then it was back to Ottawa until Don was offered a permanent teaching position at Queen's University in Kingston.
Grace never lost ties to her previous homes. There were trips out west to visit relatives, summers at the family cottage near Ottawa and Dutch Christmas celebrations every Dec. 6.
It was in Kingston that Grace started her volunteer work. She was a board member and then president of Access Bus. She also founded a swim program for adults and children with special needs.
Grace was famous at the pool. After swim sessions, she passed out cookies. My favourite was a cookie of her own invention. In the midst of making shortbread, she ran out of flour (a very uncommon occurrence) so she replaced it with oats and added some chocolate chips for good measure. A new cookie was born. My grandpa christened them "Amazing Graces." It was not only the perfect name for the cookie, but the perfect name for her. And that's how I'll always remember her. My amazing Grandma Grace.
Christina Heyding is the second of Grace's four grandchildren.
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