Jessie Annie Middleton

Jessie Annie Middleton (neé Lee), youngest and last surviving child of James William Lee and Edith Mary Brown, passed away peacefully on the morning of May 22nd, 2019. Grandma Jessie was, as she would tell us, “the 12th child, born on the 12th day, of the 12th month… of the 16th year.” She was born and raised on the family farm in Langley Prairie (now Murrayville) and upon finishing grade school, Jessie was accepted into the nursing program at Royal Columbian Hospital. She graduated in September of 1939-just one day after Canada declared war on Germany. Eager to serve her country, she joined the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps in 1942, diligently caring for injured soldiers both in Canada and overseas.

During her nursing career, she met many women who became life-long friends, and Frederick Turner Middleton, whom she married at Sharon United Church in Murrayville in 1948. They then moved to Salmo, BC, where their daughter Kathleen was born in 1949, followed by their son, Robert, in 1954. Fred’s career took them around BC to Kamloops and Creston, before they settled in Abbotsford in 1974. After Fred retired, he and Jessie traveled extensively, and she continued travelling after Fred’s sudden passing in 1982. Whether it was through BC to visit family, across Canada to reunite with her fellow RCAMC nursing sisters, or around the world on a church organized tour, Jessie always came home from her journeys with the addresses of new friends she had made, many whose names could be found in the guest books she kept on the side table in her home. When she wasn’t galivanting around the world, she could often be found involved in activities at her church, Trinity Memorial United, or volunteering with any number of groups, most notably the Abbotsford Hospice Society.

At 102, Jessie outlived many of her loved ones, whose deaths were always deeply grieved by her. Besides her 11 siblings, Jessie was also predeceased by her loving husband of 33 years, Fred, and her beloved daughter Kathleen. She is fondly remembered by her son Bob and daughter-in-law Anita Middleton; son-in-law Bruce McGillivray; Grandchildren Allan Middleton, James Middleton (Chloe Dubois), Amanda Morganton (Mike), and Miracle McGillivray (Jordan Conrad); Great-Grandchildren Hazel and Arthur Morganton; loving and supportive nephew David Langdon-Davies (Connie Akune); and a colossal number of extended family and cherished friends, for which we would need another 102 years to mention them all.

A service in celebration and remembrance of Jessie’s life will be held at 2PM on Friday, June 7th at Trinity Memorial United Church in Abbotsford, with reception and refreshments to follow.

In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Jessie can be made to The BC History of Nursing Society, The Abbotsford Hospice Society, or the Trinity Memorial United Church’s Walkway of Gratitude. And on Remembrance Day, please stop and take a moment to think of our beloved Jessie, and her fellow veterans. It would have meant the world to her.

You are invited to leave a personal message of condolence for the family.