July 13, 1926 – January 2, 2025
We are heartbroken to announce the peaceful passing of our wonderful, kind and generous mother Helen Bridgman on January 2, 2025, surrounded by family at Highland Retirement Residence after a brief illness. Helen lived a full, vibrant and sometimes challenging life of 98 years.
Mom grew up on the family farm, the only child of Jim and Anne Watson. Her husband, Gerald Bridgman built their home on the farm where they raised their large and active family, in the community of Scott’s Corners near Cambridge. Predeceased by her parents, husband Gerry (2004), daughters Lorraine (2012) and Sharon (2015) and three grandsons, Jimmy, Stephen and Corrie.
Helen leaves a family of eight remaining children, James (Sheila), Mary (Hamid), Margaret (Harvey), Donald (Linda), Douglas (Cathy), Dianne (Fred), Denise (Steve) and Kenneth (Angel), many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. For an only child, she leaves a lovely legacy of family, cared for with love. We will miss greatly the presence Mom had in all of our lives.
We think of our mother primarily as our caregiver, facing the many challenges of a family of twelve individuals. She prepared nutritious meals and was also an excellent baker of many foods especially butter tarts and Chelsea buns. Often we would come home from school to the aroma of wonderful treats. Mom always helped when any of the family and extended family were ill and in need of care. She loved babies, offering valuable advice and assistance when requested.
Helen loved the Women’s Institute, considering the group of friends her lifeline especially when the children were young. As we grew, she became a 4-H club leader where she taught us her skills of sewing, cooking and nutrition.
Mom was a life-long learner with an incredible curiosity and memory. She had a well-used collection of encyclopedia to research any topic. History, genealogy and finance were her specialties. The W. I. Tweedsmuir local history and The Annals of Clyde & Scotts were local history collections she contributed to and treasured. Mom was the local expert to community members with inquiries regarding her community and their families. As a fifth generation Canadian, Mom has a collection of family genealogy back to Richard McNeilly who came to Canada in 1846 to escape the great famine in Ireland. The Bridgman family history of United Empire Loyalists is also part of her collection.
Mom would listen to financial shows and then create beautifully written letters with pertinent information for her children and grandchildren to help us deal with our finances and to plan savings for each stage of our lives. She especially wanted us to have the funds for education as the key to leading personally responsible and independent lives.
Since education was highly valued by Mom, she volunteered at her children’s schools and was a guiding hand in the education of her family and often the neighbours’ children too.
Mom and Dad continued her parent’s stand on the Galt Farmers Market selling home-grown vegetables and beautiful gladioli. They stopped this only when the last of the children no longer needed financial assistance for education.
Although Mom rarely did anything for herself, she went to Expo ’67 in Montreal and also made certain that many of us could attend also. She was able to take trips to Florida, to Cuba, to Newfoundland and especially loved being near the water at Lorraine’s cottage during parts of the summer.
Our mother often expressed her admiration for our grandmother Watson’s abilities to do almost anything with such skill. In examining Mom’s life, we have come to realize that she was an amazingly skilful person too. Her passing has left an ache in our hearts that will take a very long time to lessen.
Always in our thoughts, we cherish our memories.
A Celebration of Life will be announced at a later date.
