Melita Sarah Codrington

In Loving Memory of Melita S. Codrington
                     August 27, 1923 - October 9, 2023

Melita S. Codrington passed away peacefully on Monday, October 9, 2023 with her son Craig by her side. Lea, as Melita later liked to be called, was born near Rossburn, Manitoba, on August 27, 1923, to John Stanley Taylor and Stella Maud Sherritt. Lea, along with her brothers Russell, Lawrence, Laverne, and Lyle, and her sisters Lylene, Estelle, and Evelyn, grew up in Pine Falls, Manitoba. Lea's mother died when Lea was 19, so Lea helped to raise the younger ones while at the same time working in a pulp and paper mill to support the family. At the age of 25, she entered nursing school at the Winnipeg General Hospital, graduating in 1951 with her RN. She stayed on at the Winnipeg General Hospital for a time, becoming head nurse within six months. She then moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, and nursed at the Vancouver General Hospital, before moving to Kemano, British Columbia, where a hydroelectric power station was being constructed by the Aluminum Company of Canada (Alcan) to provide power to their aluminum smelter at Kitimat, British Columbia. Lea worked as a nurse in Kemano, and had many interesting stories to tell about her time there. Kemano is where she met her future husband Bill Codrington, who was an electrical engineer working for Alcan. After completing his work at Kemano, Bill was subsequently transferred by Alcan to Montreal, Quebec. He wrote to Lea to ask her to join him there. She did, and they were married on September 21, 1957 at Queen Mary Road United Church in the Town of
Hampstead, Quebec. Lea continued her nursing at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, and retired from nursing in 1959. Her son Craig was born on June 24, 1959, and soon after that the family moved to Arvida, Quebec, where Alcan has an aluminum smelter. In Arvida, Lea and Bill golfed in the summertime at the Saguenay Valley Country Club, and curled there in the wintertime. They made many lifelong friends in Arvida. Two such lifelong friends were Wally and Anne Robertson. When Craig and the Robertson's son Bill were very young, Lea and Anne were such avid golfers that Bill and Wally fashioned seats for Lea and Anne's pull-carts so that Craig and the Robertson's son Bill could ride along while Lea and Anne played golf. In 1968 Bill was transferred back to Montreal, where Alcan had its head office, so Lea and Bill purchased a home in Beaconsfield, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal. Lea obtained her realtor's license in 1970, and became a successful real estate agent. Lea, Bill, and Craig spent many enjoyable hours golfing at the Whitlock Golf & Country Club in Hudson, Quebec, and made many friends there. In 1985 Lea and Bill retired, and moved to New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Lea, Bill, and Craig enjoyed playing golf at the Sugar Mill Country Club in New Smyrna Beach -- even well into her 80's Lea could still wallop a golf ball. Lea was also President of the Sugar Mill 18-Hole Women's Golf Association from 1988 to 1989. Lea was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church in New Smyrna Beach, becoming an Elder and then a Deacon, and made many lifelong friends there. In 1991 Lea took a bus tour of Europe, and met two Australians who were taking the tour with her, Joanne and Adele; the three became close friends, and had so much fun that Lea and Joanne would, even years later, recount stories from the tour. Lea took up oil painting, and turned out to be an extremely talented artist -- she painted many beautiful paintings in the realist style, including a painting of "Lady", a German Shepherd the family had in Montreal. Every summer, Lea, Bill, and Craig traveled back to Canada to visit their many friends in Montreal and Ottawa, and every fall, Lea and Bill visited Victoria, British Columbia, where they had many ties. Lea's beloved husband Bill passed away in 2014. Each year from 2016 to 2019, Lea and Craig traveled across Canada to visit friends and family -- these were memorable and fun journeys made almost entirely by rail. In her later years she enjoyed going out to dinner with friends and family, going to bingo at Sugar Mill with Craig, often accompanied by their friends Bev and Rod Richardson, Judy Anderson, and her beloved caregiver Sara Kannan, and also enjoyed visits to her home by her friends Leigh and Bill Chegwin, Nancy Frame,and Lisa Holl.

She is survived by her beloved son Craig and her many nephews and nieces, along with their respective families: Sharon Hunt and her husband Dan; Judy Begg; Robert Begg and his husband Gordon; Betty's husband Walter Ivaniski; Beverley McKenzie; Lyle McKenzie and his wife Donna; Warren McKenzie and his wife Karen; Dawn Mummery; Valerie Choquette and her husband Denis; Doug Fallis and his wife Sherry; David Fallis; Larry Fallis and his wife Linda; Delton Fallis; Wendy Stewart; Cynthia Yeung; Karen Taylor; and on Bill's side, by Cathy Rotes and her husband Paul.

Lea lived life to the fullest. She loved people, and enjoyed the company of friends and family. She had a smile that would light up a room, and with a twinkle in her eye, she would often make
some funny comment. She will be deeply missed by her many friends and family, especially by her beloved son Craig.

      
                Grief
                
       How, oh how can life go on
       Now with my dear mother gone?
       Days, weeks, and months go by
       Calling her name with no reply
       
       And could I have changed the course of events
       That led to her death, a death without sense
       Going over the course of events in my mind
       It would have required travel through time
       
       But we cannot go back, despite all I would give
       To alter the past, to allow her to live
       To see her smile, just for one day
       All would I give, all would I pay
       
       But knowing Mom
       Were she here today
       She would tell me
       To go find my way
       
                 — William Craig Codrington

The funeral service will be held on Thursday, Nov. 9 at 11 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church, New Smyrna Beach, Florida.  A visitation will be held from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 7
at Settle-Wilder Funeral Home, New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

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