Jerrine (Jeri) Ruby Weigand née McDonald

The ending of Jeri’s adventure romance book has been written, “It was a wonderful life!”

Jeri was born and educated in the Glidden area and then Kindersley, Saskatchewan, the daughter of pioneer farmers with her father hailing from Ontario and her mother Scotland.  A divorcée with four kids, Jeri was transferred to the Yukon with the Government of Canada in 1965 to work in the newly formed Public Works Department.  She met Bill Weigand, the love of her life, shortly after.

Jeri brought her flair to business (Poverty Bar in Dawson City and Designer’s North in Whitehorse, Inuvik, Expo ‘86 and Victoria), her entrepreneurial spirit (creating a line of Ted Harrison china) to all her endeavours, her conviviality and love of people with new ideas to event planning (visiting dignitaries and many other special occasions and guests), her artistic eye to design (267 Alsek) and art (painting all her Chinese home’s walls with scenes from China), her sense of adventure (teaching ESL and pyrotechnics consulting in China) to life, and her provocative opinions and activism (obtaining funding and organizing trained midwifery in rural China) to things she believed in. She was a significant mentor to many girls and women (and I daresay men) in Canada and China.  The family is going to miss her exceptional meals and dinners, spirited discussion and the poise and vitality she brought to all the lives around her.  We would be remiss not to mention Bill’s take of Jeri – he and she were equally passionately in love their whole marriage and she was the reason he straightened his back and was the anchor that made all his successes possible.

Jeri was an avid reader and diarist all her life and in later years a writer of poems, published short stories and two published books, Knowing Miss Chen and Amita.  She was fascinated with foreign countries and she and her husband, travelled extensively in Canada, US, China, Japan, South Africa, United Kingdom, Europe as well as spending time in the Middle East and South America. Jeri and Bill made friends around the world.

Later in life, by invitation from the Chinese government, Jeri and Bill volunteered to work as Foreign Experts for two years in the People’s Republic of China; one year on the Tibetan Plateau in the frontier City of Xining and one year in the south east seaside city of Baihai on the Gulf of Tonkin.  They received two prestigious awards for their volunteer service: the “Golden Silk Ball Award”, the highest Guangxi Provincial award presented to Foreign Experts.  They also travelled back to China to receive “The Friendship Award”, China’s highest award bestowed on foreigners, presented by Vice premier of Foreign Affairs in The Great Hall Of The People, in Beijing. Jeri cherished the memories made in China where they had daily adventures and made everlasting friendships.

Jeri and Bill also were the recipient of the Rotary Club “Paul Harris Fellowship Award” and “The Commissioner’s Award for Public Service” by Commissioner Jack Cable.

Jeri and Bill then settled into a retirement life in Yaletown, Vancouver and later Steveston, Richmond, B.C.  In 2016 Jeri and Bill returned “home” to Whitehorse.

Jeri is survived by children Darryl (Sharon), Buni (Andrew), David, Nikki (Grant), Donald (Debra), Teri; grandchildren Dax (Katy), Kate (Ryan), Tristan (Susanne), Jesse (Shayla), Daniel, Stephen (Erika); and, great grandchildren Tovah, Gabriel, Nolan, Violet, Joséphine, Ethan, Caleb and Béatrice. She leaves loving extended family Catherine, Lynda and Murray, and Gary, Amelia and Victoria.  Jeri was predeceased by her husband, Bill Weigand, her parents and her sister, Hazel.

A big thank you to House 5 Whistle Bend staff for Jeri’s care the last three years and especially to long-time friend and family doctor Xiu-Mei Zhang for her kindness and care of Jeri and the family.

An informal Celebration of Life, at Jeri’s request, will take place at Heritage North on August 20, 2024 at 1:30 p.m.  In lieu of flowers a donation can be made to your charity of choice.