IDA LAPLANTE (born RIISE) Ida Helene Laplante, formerly Larsen and born Riise, died in Winnipeg on July 20, 2008 at the age of 97. Family history - from Norway to Dakota: Ida's paternal grandparents were Randi Claven-Larson (1843-1909) and John Riise (1835-1895), a North Sea fisherman. In 1884 they emigrated from Aure, Norway to homestead in Dakota Territory, near Britton in what became South Dakota in 1889. Legend has it that they spent the first winter in a cave dug out of the side of a hill. From Dakota to Canada: Ida's father Iver Riise (1869-1919) was the second of John and Randi's four children. In 1885 he joined his parents in Dakota and in 1905 married Hadla Johnson (1883-1928), who came from Norway in 1904 as a servant girl . In 1910 Iver and Hadla were among the multitude of Americans who moved to the new province of Saskatchewan (born in 1905) via Winnipeg. The Riises homesteaded at Instow, near Shaunavon. This was around the time and place of Wallace Stegner's Wolf Willow (1962), one of Ida's favourite books. Ida's siblings and children: Ida was the fourth of Iver and Hadla's six children and the first born in Canada. She was delivered on the farm (Sec10, Tp11, Rge17, W3rd) in 1910 by Mrs. Elkins, a midwife. Ida's siblings were Helga (1906-1913), John (1907-1974), Otto (1909-1965), Lewis (1912-1997) and Emily (born 1916). Ida was quite young when she married Sigurd Larsen, an immigrant from Norway. Their three children, born in Moose Jaw, are Sid Larsen (Joan) of Canoe, BC, Peggy (Charlie) Camilleri of Mississauga, ON and Norm Larsen (Linda Perry) of Winnipeg. In 1940 Ida bravely separated from her husband and moved to English Bay in Vancouver. She there met Lorne (Doc ) Laplante (1904-1997) from Winnipeg, where they married in 1946 and resided until returning to English Bay in 1959. Surviving family: Also surviving Ida are her sister Emily Braden in Earl Grey, SK and seven grandchildren: Richard (Ivy), Donald, and Cam (Marisa) Larsen in BC, Ron and Rick Camilleri of Toronto, ON and Kenton (Caroline Traweger) and Janna Larsen (Phil Reddy) of Winnipeg. Her six great-grandchildren are James Larsen, Angela Sibilleau, Todd, Ryan and Chelsea Larsen in BC and Spencer Camilleri in Ontario. Her one great-great-grandchild is Angela's son Talis Pittman. Personal: Ida was an intelligent but very shy woman who was curious about everything. Largely self-educated, her interests included many crafts and keeping track of the world by reading widely and watching TV documentaries. She admired strong women like Nellie McClung, Eleanor Roosevelt, Bette Davis (even when a brazen hussy), Sheila Copps and Hillary Clinton. Ida herself was a strong and capable woman who might well have matched their success in her own way had she lived in a different time or place. She regretted that she never had the chance to become the best darn nurse there ever was or, in recent years, a helicopter pilot! Her sense of humour: Ida accepted the limitations of old age with determination and humour. Wondering why she outlived most of her contemporaries, she quoted Oscar Hammerstein (The King and I): Is a puzzlement! Did she like to receive gifts? I always ask people not to bring gifts, but I'm tickled pink when they do! Her favourite sweet? Whichever one I'm eating! Her self-assessment? You have to be pretty smart to be smarter than I am, and pretty stupid to be more stupid than I am! Her best advice? Be prepared for old age, because it happens suddenly! Manitoba's great health care system: Ida was grateful for the excellent care she received when she returned to Manitoba in 1998 (after 40 years in BC), as provided by Dr. Asita Mehta, the Home Care Program (thanks to Robin, Marisol, Debbie, Kathy Ritchie and Cheryl Cels), the ER staff at St. Boniface Hospital, the Health Sciences Centre and Victoria Hospital, and Parkview Place Personal Care Home. Thanks also to people like Tommy Douglas and Evelyn Shapiro who created the system. Her last days: Ida, sharp to the end, spent her last two months at Parkview, where she said she was living the life of Riley and treated like the Queen of Sheba. Thanks to all staff, including Robert, Hannah, Minda and Nancy. Special thanks for the care provided by the staff at Victoria Hospital's ER on Ida's last day, including Justin, Sheila, Erin and Jeanette. Ida was a skeptic, but not all the time. Her favourite poem was Death Shall Not Divide (author unknown), a gift from a friend in 1919 when Ida's father died: Even for the dead /I shall not bind my soul to grief. /Death cannot divide, /For is it not as if a rose that climbed my garden wall /Had bloomed the other side?