Brenda Ashmore (Knox)
September 10, 1932 - July14, 2022

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Brenda Ashmore on July 14th, 2022 at the Queensway Carleton Hospital in Ottawa. Brenda was a loving wife for 60 years to her late husband Brian Ashmore.

Brenda was a wonderful caring mother to her two children Michael Ashmore and Cheryl Whillans and she was loved very much by her late son in law Tony Whillans and her daughter in law Joanna Ashmore. She was a cherished Nana to her grandchildren and their partners Jacquie Fice and her husband Chris, Steven Whillans and his wife Amber and Becky Cheung and her husband Pete. She was also a very loved "G" to her four great grandchildren Madeleine and Henry Fice, Skye Whillans and Theo Cheung.

Brenda was born on Sept 10th, 1931 in Rochdale, Lancashire, England to Robert and Edna Knox. She was the first born of three sisters. She was born in war time England and as the eldest daughter she was responsible to help her mother care and keep her younger sisters safe while her father served in the second world war. Tough little lady is a great description of Brenda. She graduated from Beauty college and became a very sought after hairdresser in Rochdale.

She met her husband and love of her life, Brian at a dance held to welcome the boys home from serving overseas and they married in the early 1950s.

Brenda and Brian immigrated to Canada in 1954 leaving their families in England and she sacrificed so very much to make a life here. She worked as a hairdresser in England and Toronto to help support her family. She loved being a mother, as she was told she would never be able to have children. She lived in Oshawa for 40 years and worked at Sears in the Oshawa center where she was known as the cute little English lady who works in watch repair. She loved to spend time in Fort Myers Florida where they would meet friends from all over the United States and England every year. They began dancing again after they retired and joined Arther Murray's where they made many wonderful friends and won competitions in the ballrooms in Toronto and Montreal.

After her husband's death in 2016, Brenda moved to Ottawa and lived at the Maplewood Retirement Community. She made many cherished friendships there and was thought of as a bright light there, always helping others and enjoying socializing with the staff and residents. She enjoyed her later years here in Ottawa spending time with her family and getting to know her great grandchildren. She looked forward to her visits back to Oshawa to see old friends and her yearly Picton Wine trip ... she loved white wine.

Brenda will be missed by friends she kept in touch with in Oshawa and by friends here in Ottawa and especially by her family who loved her so very much. We know how fortunate we are to have had her until she was almost 91 and we will cherish all the wonderful moments we have shared with her.

We want to thank Dr Bruni and the palliative nurses at the Queensway Carleton Hospital and the nurses in Unit C and D for the wonderful care and compassion that was given to us all. Our hearts are broken but we can feel the love being sent our way. As per Brenda's request, there will be cremation and her ashes will be spread with her beloved husband Brian in Oshawa.