On January 5, 2019 Nita Gertrude Conrad, 85, walked into eternity with Jesus at the Westford Nursing Home in Port Elgin, NB while surrounded by loving family and friends. The pain of our loss is mixed with the hope of a glorious reunion.
Nita was born in Port Elgin, NB on November 21, 1933 to the late Layton and Morinda (Allen) Spence.
Nita attended elementary school in Cape Tormentine where her family operated the Seaside Hotel. Here, she learned service, waiting tables and playing the piano for guests. Nita was a member of the first graduating class of Port Elgin Regional Memorial School where she enjoyed playing basketball. On May 26, 1952, she was married to her loving husband Hilrey E. Conrad and they began raising a family of four boys in Cape Tormentine. There Nita became a vital member of the United Church and the UCW. Nita’s love for the ocean provides lingering memories of days at the beach with family and friends, lobster feeds, and her most famous clam chowder. She could cook! She loved fishing and card parties! But mostly, she loved her family and was devoted to each one’s needs and interests. Later Nita worked at the CN Terminal gift shop and took a secretarial job at Rehau Industries. In her fifties, then widowed, Nita moved to Sackville, and was married to her second husband Royce Mills, with whom she enjoyed many summer days at Caissie Cape and Murray Beach. She loved to travel with friends, visiting the Caribbean, Florida, Hawaii, cruising to Alaska, and in her eighties, riding a dogsled high up in the Rockies. Nita enjoyed crocheting and knitting, and her legacy of comforters remain tucked around loved ones from Nova Scotia to Alberta and beyond.
Nita is predeceased by: her husband of 34 years, Hilrey Conrad; her second husband, Royce Mills; half-brother Lorne Allen; and sister Rosella Crawford.
Left with cherished memories are: sister Shirley (Francis) Hammersley of Ottawa, Ont.; son Brion (Susan) of Sherwood Park, Alta. and their children: Jacqueline (Mark Dukart) Conrad, and Lyndsay (Steve Ambeault) Conrad; son Brent (Sandy) of Cole Harbour, N.S. and their children: Timothy, Jordan and Macy; son David (Patty Ferdinand) of Bayfield, N.B. and his son Jared; son Darren (Rosemary) of Sackville, N.B. and their sons: Dax and Liam; son Bill ( Claire) Grimmer of Parlee Beach, N.B. and their daughter Vanessa, his daughter Tiffany and son Jason. She also leaves behind many great-grandchildren, step great-grandchildren and nieces and nephews.
We are grateful for the love, care and companionship of Jean Amos, who has become like family to us over the years, and for Wendy Malone and the entire staff at the Westford Nursing Home.
A celebration of Nita’s life will take place at Jones Funeral Home, 70 Bridge St., Sackville, NB (506-364-1300 www.jonesfuneralhome.ca) on Sunday, January 27, 2019 at 2 pm.
Interment will be at the Fernwood Cemetery in Port Elgin at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that memorial gifts be made to the Westford Nursing Home, Port Elgin, NB or a favorite charity of your choosing.