Amanda Batek (daughter)
Entered
October 7, 2023
My mother Olive was a trailblazer and force of nature, never satisfied with conventions and instead reveled in being different. Her favourite expressions were Greetings & Salutations! (when she burst into a room), Rejoice!, and Hallelujah! (when she agreed with a statement, usually with her fist shaking in the air).
Olive loved traveling and started as soon as she graduated from university in pharmacy, spending 3 years in Jamaica with CUSO. She met and married Roger Allen there, a fine young English gentleman. She had an adventurous spirit, ultimately living in British Columbia, Libya, England, Mississauga, Saudi Arabia, and finally settling in Brampton. She loved the opportunity to travel the world and learn about other cultures.
Olive also loved reading, gardening, animals, and volunteering. In retirement, she spent many hours volunteering at the hospital she retired from, and her generous spirit is well known. Olive spent countless hours on her hands and knees, digging in the dirt, getting her garden just the way she wanted it. She had an encyclopedic knowledge of the plants she cultivated and was asked to help with the gardens at a local golf club.
Olive always had stories to tell! She'd often say that this was going to be a "brief" story, but that was rarely the case, with many extra details. The last few days with her were filled with stories.
Most of all, Olive dearly loved her family and was always there to support us in whatever way they needed 💕. She loved taking her grandsons out on adventures including tours of the hospital she volunteered at and the ROM. She loved the times we could all get together, as well as the time spent with each of us individually.
I am the person I am today because of her.
We miss you Mum.
