Obituary of Ardyce DeCory
Ardyce Faye DeCory (née Foster) of Malahide passed away peacefully at Terrace Lodge on February 9, 2023 in her 94th year. Loving wife of the late Lancelot DeCory, mother to Jed DeCory (Dominique Giguère), Lanette Finical (Allen) and Dagmar Simons (Don) and a bevy of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Feisty to the last, Ardie’s life was one of caring and adventure.
Born November 29, 1928 in Howard, South Dakota, she spent her childhood caring for her disabled mother and helping her father who was a carpenter and farmer. At 16 she graduated from high school and launched an early work career that included jobs such as dental assistant, waitress and restaurant manager.
She met the love of her life, Lance, and they eloped only to have a full ceremony six months later. Thus began her life of unconditional support for Lance’s engineering career, even if that meant moving to Africa, to five states and to one province. She often boasted that she had lived in more than 30 different locations in her lifetime. Ardie ran the household, acted as chef and hostess to government officials, business associates and, when the time came, acted as real estate agent as the family followed Lance to a new position and new town.
When the children were old enough, she went back to work, first as a bank representative at a local retirement home and then as a sales associate at a hosiery store. With her business savvy she quickly moved into management and under her guidance, that one store blossomed into a successful chain across Ontario. Fearless, strong-willed, and always taking initiative, she went to New York to pitch the concept of a knitted cotton gusset in pantyhose to the Kayser Roth Hoisery company. They would eventually patent the idea.
Using the carpentry skills she learned from her dad, she was most proud of the house she built and furnished for her retirement. She turned a one-room shack into a sprawling four-bedroom home where she and Lance continuously entertained members of the large extended family they had accumulated through all their travels. Related or not, everyone called her Grandma.
Caring and generous, she cooked and baked non-stop, sewed entire wardrobes for all the grandkids’ dolls, built and furnished doll houses, and still managed to keep the house and the grounds impeccable, with beautiful gardens and flowerbeds in bloom everywhere.
Equally agile on a roof with a hammer or with knitting needles in her hands, Ardie never went anywhere unnoticed. Between her trendy outfits always perfectly accessorized, her famous, natural, long, painted nails, and the most eclectic collection of life stories which she readily shared with anyone she met, she had a way about her that instantly won everyone’s heart. She will be missed.
Ardie did not want a funeral but in recognition of the amazing staff at Terrace Lodge, donations to the Comforts of Home -Terrace Lodge campaign would be appreciated.
