Lin Ellis (Friend)

Entered March 20, 2021 from Montréal

I send my condolences to you and to your family during this time of sorrow. The Bible gives a real hope and promises that your loved one will soon come back to life in a peaceful paradise on the earth. (John 5:28, 29)

Monica Lahey (Friend)

Entered March 20, 2021 from Mississauga

I am deeply sorry for the loss of your deeply beloved mother & grandmother. I have been incredibly blessed to have known her & spend an abundance of special quality time with her over the last 5 years. All the memories I will carry forever in my heart. She was full of life, wit and so much wisdom. May her beautiful soul rest in eternal peace. You all gained a very special loving angel to watch over you your lifetime. God bless you all during this difficult time.

Maria Tito (Family friend)

Entered March 20, 2021 from Toronto

Derek, Janet, Kerry and Roger - my deepest condolences to you and your families.

Sending you all my love and a big hug at this sad time.

Maria Tito

Sharon Butler & Family (Friend of Daughters)

Entered March 20, 2021 from Mississauga

Derek, Kerry, Janet, Roger and families:
Please accept our sincere condolences on the loss of your Mother, Grandmother, friend.

I didn’t have the privilege of meeting Mrs. Phillpotts in person but rather the privilege of sharing a friendship with her daughters; knowing them is knowing Mrs.Phillpotts. Their love for one another, their strong commitment to family, integrity, humour, grace, style, stories of youth.....will continue to live. What an incredible legacy.

May you all find comfort knowing your mother is in peace and that you all carry her legacy everyday.

You are all in my prayers and thoughts
Sharon & Family

Chris & Rosemary Chaggaris (Friend)

Entered March 20, 2021 from Vaughan

Dear Derek and Family,
Rosemary and I we very saddened to hear about the loss of your mom. We would like to extend our condolences to you and your loved ones. Take care.

Chris and Rosemary Chaggaris

I am a friend of the Phillpotts family. Derek and I met at Ledbury Junior High School in Toronto, when we were 13 years old. Our homes were a 15minute walk from each other. We spent many hours at each others’ home, not to mention our family cottage at Wasaga Beach. Gloria and the Phillpotts family played an important role in my youth and development. The following story took place over 50 years ago, and I remember most of it like yesterday. I was a somewhat rebellious youth and one day I got into an argument with my parents and decided to "teach them a lesson" by running away from home. (I can’t remember what the conflict was so it wasn’t major) I spent my first night of running away by sleeping in a local laundry mat on Bathurst St near our homes. The next day I contacted Derek and was invited to stay in Derek's bedroom, in the basement of their home on Bedford Park for what I think was 10 days. This is the first time I was blessed to stay with the Phillpotts and got to know Gloria, who was a very gracious host. This was also the first time I got exposure to curry, which Gloria prepared in many different ways. The curry was delicious and it is still a favorite of mine to this day. After these 10 days of “teaching my parents a lesson” I eventually wondered back home. I am sure that my parents were very worried about the whereabouts their rebellious teen during my time away. It was only years later that I learned that on the first day staying at the Phillpotts, Gloria called my Mother to inform her I was staying with them. But that was Gloria. She wanted to make sure that my parents didn’t worry about their child. At the same time Gloria was supporting me, a family friend. (Gloria and my Mom actually got to know each other through this experience) I still warmly remember Gloria’s support and love, and being treated with respect as a young teen. I also learned that the love and support Gloria demonstrated, was adopted by all of her children, and passed on to Gloria’s grandchildren. I feel blessed that my own children are close friends of Ely and Remy to this very day. (I am also happy that my two sons were not as rebellious as me) Larry

My Eulogy
First – Thank you to Father Roger and for his presiding over my mom’s funeral service.
Second – Thank you to all the family and friends for their kind words of sympathy and condolences.
Third – I’m sure that you have all read the obituary that was crafted so beautifully about mom and provided a wonderful window into GG’s character, spirit and strength, but I am going to share a couple of my own personal memories of my mom that are forever etched firmly in my mind
Back in England, in order to augment my Dad’s weekly wages from the local works, mom decided to take on various other stay at home jobs.
• She was a seamstress – started doing odd jobs like hemming pants, skirts, etc which eventually led to her making skirts and pants which she had to send away for in order to get the patterns.
• An Avon Lady – selling colognes and perfumes to the neighbours and her friends – a real social butterfly technique - Effective networking before networking was a thing.
• And most interestingly, a hairdresser for the West Indian community in Preston, Eng. Using the hot comb and vaseline jelly technique she would have the hot combs heated on the gas stove top burners, dip the hot comb into the jelly and then straighten out the hair of her customers. Of course this was a trade that she had to pick up on the fly and required inordinate concentration. However, this was made all the more complicated because she had to deal with a 2 to 3 year old kid hanging onto her skirt, who would not let go regardless of how much she tried to steer him away. Yes, I was that bratty little boy who would suck his thumb and cry and whine whenever she tried to untangle my grip from her skirt. Totally under her feet! Yes a real momma’s boy. I see the same with my grandson Caleb and his mom and dad.
• The other poignant memory was when I started my first day of school, I cried and cried and cried so badly, that the school had to have my mom stay in the classroom in order to help keep me quiet and minimize the disruption to the other kids. Apparently this took a couple of days before I finally settled down, but she just soldiered on doing what had to be done for her family. What had to be done for me. That was my mom.
Gloria Veronica Phillpotts taught all of her kids about being independent and having respect for others
About conviction in one’s belief and choices
About paying one’s own way and being resourceful and frugal enough to manage it
About extending a helping hand to each of us and know that we would do the same for others
But most of all, about the love and strength of family bonds and the nurturing of our family branches of which she was the proud bearer and matriarch.
Oh we will all miss her so, but her memory and spirit are emblazoned in each of us.
Godspeed GG, you have earned your rest. Enjoy the sunshine darling...

“Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted” - The Gospel of Matthew 5:4

Mom, one of a kind, happy, loving, generous, beautiful soul. She never complained. Mom could take a dollar and turn it into $10 in a short period of time. She could save, save & save yet still provide (with Dad) for her family and herself from limited means. Mom could have written one of those Wealthy Barber type books.

A poem

“ Fill not your hearts with pain & sorrow, but remember me in every tomorrow. Remember the joy, the laughter, the smiles. I’ve gone to rest for a little while.
Although my leaving causes pain & grief, my going has given me relief. So dry your eyes and remember me, not as I am now but as I used to be.

Because, I will remember you all and look on with a smile. Understand in your hearts, I’ve only gone to rest a little while. As long as I have the love of each of you, I can live my life in the hearts of all of you.”

I love you Mom. I’ve learned so many good and needed life lessons from you. I will miss you every day forever.

A poem

I thought of you with love today but that is nothing new
I thought about you yesterday and days before that too
I think of you in silence, I often speak your name
All I have are memories and your picture in a frame
Your memory is my keepsake with which I’ll never part
God has you in His keeping I have you in my heart

A million times we’ve wanted you
A million times we cried
If love could only have saved you
you never would have died
It broke our hearts to lose you
But you didn’t go alone
For a part of us went with you
the day God called you home

My Eulogy

“Que sera sera. Whatever will be will be. Those were Mom’s most often repeated words to her favourite song. It represents her philosophy on life... change what you can with hard work but all will fall into place as it should. We have an extraordinary loving family and the credit goes to Mama.

Gloria Veronica Phillpotts was born on September 5th, 1927 in Kingston, Jamaica to Rebecca & Jackson Yee.

In the tradition of many Jamaicans looking for better opportunities abroad, she migrated to England in 1954 settling in Preston, Lancashire, England 6 months after her husband Keith arrived there. They were married August 1st, 1953. All four children were born in England. Derek in 1955, Kerry in 1957, Janet in 1961, and Roger in 1965.

Then, under the insistence of Gloria, the family migrated to Canada in January 1966.

Gloria was a stellar mother and homemaker. A true matriarch.

She was always home to raise her children but would also look for ways in which she could contribute to the family finances by baking wedding cakes, sewing bridesmaid dresses and teaching herself hair styling so that other Jamaican immigrants had a one stop shop for their weddings. She would sell Avon or do whatever she could to be able to raise her children at home. It was only until her children were old enough in Canada that she ventured out into the business world. She was a wizard with numbers, a human calculator, almost. I’ve heard her been called a female “Warren Buffet” by Nick because of her ability to create wealth from her extraordinary savings and investment strategy’s. She understood the power of compounding interest well before the “Wealthy Barber” wrote about it.

Life isn’t about people showing up for your life. It’s about you showing up for people. Mom did that with her life. She showed up for us as a wonderful mother, excellent daughter, sister and friend. Gloria showed up for the people that loved her. She did her life right. She would say “NO REGRETS”.

The Lord has received her AND when he saw the Queen Mom coming his way he said...
“WELL DONE MY CHILD”. HIS WILL BE DONE. Amen. And so it is. WELL DONE MAMA!!