Obituary of Anne Elizabeth Orfanides

ORFANIDES, Anne Elizabeth (née Garforth) – Born May 10 1960 and passed away peacefully to our Lord on September 16, 2013 at home surrounded by her family. Beloved wife of 25 years and very best friend of Tony Orfanides as well as adoring mother of Alexandra and George Orfanides. Predeceased by parents George and Irene Garforth, and step-father Daniel Woodbury. Loving sister of Maureen, Suzann and Paul Garforth. Sister-in-law to Dennis and Karen. Loving daughter-in-law to George and Thana Orfanides and dear sister-in-law to Ian and Tracey Orfanides. A most wonderful Friend to all who crossed her path. Born in Smiths Falls in 1960, Anne spent her formative years growing up at Rideau Ferry where she learned to love the call of the loon and the setting of the sun over the water. She learned at an early age with the passing of her father George how fleeting and precious life is. She never missed a chance to do a kindness for anyone, to share a smile and to spread the warmth and glow of her soul that radiated inside her so brilliantly. Anne was a relentless volunteer, an avid sailor and skier and especially a lover of the ocean and sea. Some of her fondest memories were watching the beauty of the sunrise over the clouds on Mount Haleakala, gently drifting on a kayak beside the humpback whales in Maui, playing with the loggerhead turtles in Kona and making friends with a nurse shark in the Cayman Islands. If asked what she was most proud of, Anne would have undoubtedly told you that it was her children Alexandra and George. Anne’s boundless energy and passion for both athletic and academic pursuits saw them through 5am swim practices, too many piano exams to count and all the academic challenges that serious studies brings. Nothing brought her more unbridled joy and pride in this life than looking upon them with all their strength of spirit, beauty, kindness and intelligence. They, along with their father, hope to honour her tenacity, courage, and fierce love every moment for the rest of their lives. Anne will always continue to live on in all the countless lives that she touched. Visitation will be held on Friday from 3:00-5:00 and 7:00-9:00 p.m. at WESTVIEW FUNERAL CHAPEL, 709 Wonderland Road North. A celebration of Anne’s life will take place on Sunday, September 22nd, 2013 from 2:00-6:00 p.m. at 297 Grangeover Avenue. Interment of cremated remains will take place at Woodland Cemetery at a later date. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to Paws-United Dog Rescue or to a charity of your choice. Online condolences may be made at www.westviewfuneralchapel.com Invictus Out of the night that covers me, Black as the Pit from pole to pole, I thank God for what may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds, and shall find, me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll. I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul. --William Ernest Henley