Grace Marion Tigg

Grace Marion Tigg

1922 - 2025

Grace Marion (Coutts) Tigg was born to Robert and Margaret Coutts on July 3rd, 1922, in Benito, Manitoba and passed on July 16th, 2025, while residing in the swan Valley Lodge. Where she had celebrated her 103rd birthday 13 days prior.  

At an early age she left Benito to go to Dauphin by train. She was to help her sickly aunt with her children. She then became employed by ‘Gardners Mens Wear’ as a seamstress where she also did tailoring on men’s suits and sewed insignia on air force uniforms, sometimes having to remove them the next day for fun flyboy misbehavior. 

 Grace met and married Jim in 1944, and they had 63 years together and raised a family of four Margaret, Robert, Brian and Bruce. 

  Jim was employed and worked for the Manitoba Telephone System and was transferred from Dauphin to Swan River in 1953. The family then moved to Swan River with their three children, Margaret, Robert and Brian, and Bruce was later born in Swan. Grace was a stay-at-home mother and grew a large garden. She enjoyed her pastime in her gardening, cooking, baking and preserving the abundance of her vegetables and berries that were harvested. There were always cookies in her cookie jar for the grandkids. 

 She later obtained employment at ‘Northern Dry Cleaners’ when the children grew up and were off to school. While at the Dry Cleaners she continued working as a seamstress doing alterations and repairs on clothes for the co-op fashions. She also later worked for Laura’s Fashions and did more alterations and repairs from home. When she retired from sewing, she found time to join a bowling league. She loved her bowling and whenever the grandkids visited Swan, they had to go bowling with grandma.  

Over the years she has travelled to Seattle with her sisters to visit 3 of her aunts, sometimes by plane and other times by car. In the 1970s her and Jim took a bus tour to California. Then in 2000 she travelled to Mount Vernon, Washington to attend her granddaughter’s wedding and visited places in B.C. 

Grace resided in the home they bought in 1953, until December 31, 2023, when she was admitted to the hospital in Swan River and later lived in the Swan Valley Lodge until her passing.  

Grace is survived by and will be lovingly missed by her daughter Margaret Brandson and her sons Brian Tigg (Elaine), Bruce Tigg (Trina), daughter-in-law Bernadette Tigg, Brother Donald Coutts (Cora) and sister Donalda Payne. As well as many grandchildren and great grandchildren.  

She was pre-deceased by her husband James (Jim) Tigg in 2007, son Robert Tigg, brother Danny Coutts, sisters Jean Gallaugher and Helen Goulsbra, son-in-law Bruce Brandson and her grand-daughter Nikki Tigg. 

If friends so desire, memorial donations in memory of Grace may be made to Canadian Diabetes Association PO Box 1224 STN K Toronto, ON M4P 9Z9.