Helen Jean Rongve

June 16, 1932 – May 20, 2023
In loving memory ~
Helen Jean Rongve (born June 16, 1932 – died May 20, 2023) will be sadly missed by family and friends.
Jean was predeceased by her parents, Robert and Agnes McGarva, and her brother, Robert Peter McGarva and sister-in-law, Sybil.
Jean is survived by her husband of 59 years, Warren Rongve, her son Ian, her daughter, Kristin, her daughter-in-law, Annemarie and her grandsons Rhys and Lukas.
Jean was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and attended elementary school, high school and university in that city. She graduated from the University of Saskatchewan in 1954 with a Bachelor of Science (Home Economics). After graduation, she worked as a dietician at the Providence Hospital in Moose Jaw before deciding that the dietitian profession was not her calling. Instead, she took positions teaching high school home economics in Kindersley, SK and Kimberley, BC. After a brief (6 week) attempt to return to being a dietician, Jean returned to the University of Saskatchewan to get her Bachelor of Education. She graduated in 1962 and, being adventurous, accepted a position at the Whitehorse Elementary School in Whitehorse, YK. It was there that she met the love of her life. She married Warren on July 13, 1963 in Saskatoon. The couple returned to Whitehorse and lived there for another 6 years. They had their son, Ian and daughter, Kristin. In 1969, Jean and her family moved to Yellowknife and they stayed there until 1978. It was in Yellowknife that Jean took classes in many areas of ceramics and pottery before focusing her considerable talents on functional, medium fired stoneware. In 1979, Jean and her family moved to Meadow Lake, SK where, after several years of being a substitute teacher, Jean took a full time teaching position at Carpenter High School in 1984. Jean remained a teacher at that school until her retirement in 1992. During the summer of 1992, Jean and her husband moved to Nanaimo, BC where they continued to live until Jean’s death.
In Nanaimo, Jean was a proud member of the Pottery Co-op and sold her pottery through that organization’s shows and through The Artisans’ Studio in downtown Nanaimo.
In addition to being a talented potter, Jean loved to garden, travel and cook. She was a welcoming hostess to anyone who came through her doors. Jean made everything that she did look effortless.
Jean was an active volunteer for the communities in which she lived. In Nanaimo, she delivered meals on wheels for approximately 20 years and shopped for seniors (many of whom were younger than her) through Sendial until the onset of Covid.
Jean loved her family and her dogs – sometimes in the reverse order. Her family and her dog, Rusty, will miss her.
There will be no celebration of life but Jean’s family encourages those who knew her to toast her memory, hug a loved one and, if desired, make a donation in her memory to the SPCA or a food bank in their community.
 Sands Funeral Chapel Cremation and Reception Centre (Nanaimo