Musician, community activist.
Born at Benito on 21 April 1924 to Maude Elizabeth Johnson (1888-1979) and William Crabb (1882-1972), she moved with her family to The Pas as a child and spent most of her life there. In 1945, she married Harold Richard “Bud” Colgan (1921-1989) and they went on to have four children. After Colgan’s death, she married Allan Osborne “Ossie” Clarke (1924-2013) in 1990.
While living at The Pas, she excelled in music, playing piano and organ, needing only the name of a song and the key, and she could play it. She assisted in writing “The Ice Worm Song.” She sang in the DM Chorus Glee Club and the Three Ds Trio. To acknowledge her playing music for the venues at the Northern Manitoba Trappers’ Festival for many years, she was honored with the Honorary Trapper award (1978).
She was talented in needlepoint stitchery and making dolls, and with her second husband Ossie made beautifully decorated eggs. Duck-hunting with her 20-gauge shotgun was another favourite pastime of hers. She also volunteered as a member of The Pas Health Complex Auxiliary for many years. She loved the cabin at Clearwater Lake, especially having friends and family visit.
She died at Shaunavon, Saskatchewan on 8 July 2010.
Joyce Clarke, Binkley’s Funeral Service (Shaunavon).
“Joyce Sarah Crabb,” Harkness-Gibson-Hurd Family Tree, Ancestry.
Obituary [Ossie Clarke], Saskatoon StarPhoenix, 11 December 2013.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 5 September 2025
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