OBITUARY: Elizabeth (Beth) Joan Jackson CLIBBON (1938-2024)

Elizabeth “Beth” Joan Jackson Clibbon, a longtime resident of Sillery, Que- bec, died suddenly and unexpectedly at the Centre hospitalier de l’Université Laval, Quebec City, on Feb. 9, 2024, in the presence of her husband and members of her immediate family. She was in her 86th year. Beth was born in Winnipeg on April 26, 1938, the second child of James Martin Jackson and Edith Joan Crook, and sister to her late brother Bruce. Beth’s father, a Scot by birth, was a banker, joining the Bank of Montreal in Calgary in 1918 and ending his career at head office in Montreal as the bank’s deputy general manager. In those years frequent transfers of mid-level and senior personnel from city to city were common. As a consequence the family moved from Winnipeg to Regina in 1941, then back to Winnipeg in 1946, to Toronto in 1947, to Calgary in 1950 (Beth’s favourite posting), to Montreal in 1955, to Vancouver in 1957 and finally back to Montreal in 1959. Although the family consisted of four people, there really was a fifth member, the Bank, whose decrees were all-powerful and affected everyone.

The transfers from city to city had an impact on Beth as her schooling was constantly interrupted; also, with every move she lost her friends and had to make new ones. By 1958, the year Beth’s formal education ended, she had attended six different schools in six provinces, never remaining in any school for more than three years. Four were private girls’ schools (Rupert’s Land, Havergal, Crofton House and Miss Edgar’s), where she spent a total of eleven years, much of the time as a boarder. Her home life, although happy, was also disrupted. By the time she turned seventeen, she had lived in twelve different houses in six cities, as well as shorter stays with her family in hotels when postwar housing was unavailable. Regardless, the many moves gave Beth a good knowledge of much of Canada and allowed her to make close friends all across the country, particularly in Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal.

On Dec. 5, 1959, at the age of 21, Beth married Peter Brooke Clibbon, a Montrealer, at her parish church, St. Matthias Anglican Church, Westmount. They moved to Ottawa, where their first child, Robert, was born. In September 1962, they moved to Quebec City, ostensibly for one year, but never left. Their four other children – Jennifer, Heather, Peter and Christopher – were all born at the Jeffery Hale Hospital in Quebec. In 1965 they moved into their present home in Sillery, bringing Beth the structure and permanence she had been seeking since childhood. Their home was always a joyous place, full of life and laughter, and the scene of many lively parties for family and friends. Beth was a gracious and generous hostess, her sparkle and smile lighting up the room.

With a large family to look after, Beth chose to be a stay-at-home mother and homemaker. She was nonetheless an energetic volunteer in the small but vibrant English-language community she had moved to, giving back to it in many ways. Over the years she helped raise funds for the Grenfell Mission and the I.O.D.E., ran the Jeffery Hale Hospital Gift and Coffee Shop, organized clothing sales at St. Michael’s Church in Sillery, taught Sunday school, was a volunteer librarian at the Morrin Centre, ran a mobile library service for people unable to leave their homes, taught chess to children at Ste-Foy Elementary School, hosted high school exchange students and their parents, and so on. She was a life-long supporter of the YWCA, where she swam and exercised regularly. She sang in the Choir at St. Michael’s Church, and she was one of the original members of the Quebec Art Company. She served on the board of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, was a warden at St. Michael’s Church, and more recently, served as chair of the Parish Council of the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in downtown Quebec.

Beth was always up to a challenge. In the mid-1970s, the family moved to England for a year, renting a 17th-century pub in a tiny village in Cambridgeshire, with the five children all attending local schools. They travelled widely throughout Britain and Western Europe in their Volkswagen camper, which they also used to cross Canada a few years later, camping all the way and visiting her old family homes. Back in Quebec she took up cross-country skiing; she was a strong skier and for 20 years was on the mountain trails every winter weekend with her husband, their children and her friends. When a knee replacement made skiing too risky, she took up cycling with Peter on the region’s many bike trails until a second knee replacement also made that impossible.

Although Beth appeared strong, her health was far from perfect. When she was 11 years old and living in Toronto, she contracted polio which resulted in her missing a year of school. She strengthened her weakened leg by taking up figure skating at the Granite Club and became skilled enough to do jumps. She also became a proficient equestrian, good enough to participate in junior competitions in Calgary and to work as a trail guide at Lake Louise. Beth’s five children were delivered by Caesarian section, at that time a risky procedure if repeated too often, but she recovered well. In more recent years she was operated on for both breast cancer and bladder cancer but she had good treatment and recovered from both. She also had two hip replacements. The second of these, although successful, weakened her to the point where she needed a walker to get around outside. But her spirits never failed her and, as always, she had a broad smile and a cheery laugh for members of her family and for visitors.

In accordance with her wishes, Beth’s funeral was a family affair. The service was held at St. Mary’s Chapel, Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Quebec, on Feb. 12, in the presence of most members of her widespread family, some of whom had flown thousands of miles to say goodbye to her and to deliver their personal tributes. Thanks to Dean Christian Schreiner who suggested this format and who presided over the service.

Beth was grateful to the staff of the Jeffery Hale Wellness Centre of Quebec City, who helped make her last two years easier and more pleasurable.

Beth leaves to mourn her husband Peter; her children Robert, Jennifer, Heather (Mario), Peter (Raquel) and Christopher (Heather); her grandchildren Jonathan (Dominique), Elise (Joseph), Stephanie (Charles), Robert (Natasha), Rosa, Guillem, Noam, Frances and Paige; her great-grand-daughters Elizabeth, Hannah, Hailey and Charlotte; her sister-in-law Brooke (Eric); her brother-in-law Robert (Melyssa); her nieces Wendy (Lyndon) and Margot (Claude); her nephew Craig; other nephews; members of the Brooke family and other relatives.