Peck, Jean Ann - 95, Springhill, It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of our beloved family member and WWII Veteran, Jean Ann Peck, who passed peacefully on April 9 at the age of 95 in the hospital, Amherst. Born in Springhill on May 17, 1925 to the late Tena (Austin) and Harry Howard, she was one of 11 children. She is survived by son, Sandy; daughters, Barbara, Marilyn, and Shirley Armour; sisters, Shirley Faulharber, Vera (Bob) McKinnon, Carol (Allan) Schurman, Helen Brennan and Linda Howard; 7 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren and 3 great-great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by husband, Clifford; siblings, Eleanor, David, Roy, Bill and Tupper; sons-in-law, Wayne Armour and Gunther Faulharber; daughter-in-law, Linda Peck.

In her 95 years on this earth, she lived an incredibly full life. At age 8 she saw the Hindenburg fly overhead. She lived through The Great Depression recalling eating mostly molasses on bread during that time. At the age of 17 she snuck away to catch the train to Aldershot where she fibbed about her age in a flopped but courageously determined attempt to join the Army. They caught on but surely admired her determination and told her to come back next year. Staying true to her intention she returned the next year and joined the Canadian Army. As Pte. Jean Howard she proudly served our country in Unit A23 as a Switchboard Operator from 1943-1946.

Aside from other duties during her service she with her unit also put on humorous plays and shows to entertain the troops and keep their spirits up. She valued the lifelong friendships she made during her service and stayed in contact with many of her fellow veterans through visits, phone calls and written correspondence. She was very proud of her service and enjoyed recalling and sharing memories from this part of her life, one of which was being present during the Bedford Magazine Explosion. In fact not only was she present, but as a service member she responded to the call-out for emergency personnel and provided aid near the thick of things. Her family members and numerous friends fondly remember the telling of what we all came to look forward to and refer to her "war stories."

During her time in the army, she met Cliff Peck and they became married in 1946. They began raising their family in Nova Scotia and later relocated their family to Kitimat, BC. Her husband Cliff died suddenly in 1965 leaving her to raise her 4 children on her own. She relocated back to Nova Scotia with her daughters and her son Sandy remained in BC where he built his life a raised a family.

She was an active member of Lady Rebekah Lodge, Card Club and the Royal Canadian Legion. She enjoyed regular outings to bingo with family and friends. She enjoyed knitting and those homemade dishcloths will sorely be missed. They just don't make anything near as good sold in the stores. She enjoyed reading. Her favorite author was Louis L'Amour whose books she would read again and again. She enjoyed watching curling and golf. She was a known for enjoying the odd game of cards with family ;) especially 45s and crib. She was well appreciated for her baking of homemade bread and in the best-said words of her niece Paula, "she made the best damn War Cake and biscuits this side of the pond!"

She had a fun and vibrant energy, twinkling blue eyes and a wonderful sense of cheeky humor. She loved gatherings; the telling of jokes, drinking a few cold beers and often joining in to music and song; playing the spoons and tap dancing like no tomorrow. She was the life of the party.

She was a beautiful woman inside and out. Many were often shocked by her age as she always had the most beautiful skin and looked significantly younger than she was at any given time. She often responded to related comments with a little impish grin, enjoying the flattery but always with her humble heart.

She had such an enthusiastic way of greeting everyone that made you feel so welcomed and appreciated. She always lit up with a big smile and greeting like she was so happy you came to visit and you got a warm hug when you left. She welcomed and fed everyone and anyone who visited; family, friends, and friends that family brought along, even some stranded strangers, a wonderful quality carried on by her children and others, her generous example influenced in this way.

She became a left leg amputee at the age of 85 and she handled this challenge with such resilience and positivity, being proud of being referred to as "The Flying Angel" as she spun around the corridors in her wheelchair sharing her vibrant and positive spirit with others during her stay at the Camp Hill Hospital Rehabilitation Unit. She also liked to cheekily brag about how strong she was getting from her exercises.

She was an incredible matriarch. She was sometimes referred to by close family members as "Rose" because she was similar to character Rose Nylund from the show The Golden Girls because she was so incredibly sweet, almost naively sweet in the most wonderful way. She exemplified a wonderful way to live life; love your family, love your friends, show kindness, acceptance and grace to everyone, welcome and feed others, laugh, dance and play, make memories, always be up for a get together, stay a little naïve to the negative and try to view life through the eyes of a child, with wonder and innocence. She so loved her family and we all dearly loved her. I think we can all take comfort in this; she was too well loved by all those who knew her to ever be forgotten.

Visitation will be from 2-5 p.m. Thursday, April 15 in MacDiarmid's Funeral Home and Crematorium. A private family funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, April 16 and will be livestreamed at www.mmcfunerals.com.