Fredrica Ann (Robinson) Givan

Fredrica Ann (Robinson) Givan

June 25, 1940 – November 7, 2025

Of course I don’t know for sure, and I didn’t ever see it mentioned in Mom’s exhaustive genealogical research, but I suspect she was a descendant of Mother Nature herself.  The way she measured and marked her life was by the hatching of baby snapping turtles, sightings of the earliest Coltsfoot blooming, watching for returning ducks, and welcoming a multitude of birds to her yard in the affectionately named Bird Alley.

Mom knew the exact spot where a single Red Trillium grew each year in the woods behind our house in rural Hawkshaw, NB. An early point of pride for her as a parent was that I (her daughter, Riel) could name every wildflower I saw because she taught me. All around Fredericton Junction and Sunbury County, she sought out and regularly saw so many creatures that live here on the Earth with us – from frogs to piebald deer to painted turtles basking in the sun.  An ermine under the shed was a cause for excitement. She loved to see wildlife. She took their pictures, kept records, journalled and blogged about them. She always spoke about a new sighting with an excitement and appreciation.

As to the snapping turtles hatching, it would seem fictional if I didn’t know that there was photographic proof of her being in the right place at the right time repeatedly over the course of years. There may have been jokes about her being a turtle whisperer for the countless number of times she saw either turtles laying eggs or the teeny little hatchlings crawling out of the buried nest.  It was the same for rare birds – either those rare to the area, or those with a genetic anomaly that made them truly unique.  Birds not seen anywhere else showed up in Bird Alley like it was avian bucket-list travel destination.

Wild animals were attracted to Mom’s vicinity.  They flew down or wandered near, crossed her path, seemingly waited and watched for her as if they knew she would see them.  It was uncanny. She had the kindest of human eyes to spy them.  It could be that she saw all these special creatures simply because she was looking for them; it could be because they were looking for her. 

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Professionally, Mom was a teacher. She had both a Bachelor of Teaching and a Bachelor of Arts from UNB. Her first teaching job was in a one-room school house in Sunbury Co. in 1959. She taught in Alberta and then returned to New Brunswick in 1967 to teach in the Nackawic area, stopping to raise her three children and then starting again.  She taught Grade 4 at Nackawic Elementary and later at Keswick Valley Memorial School until her retirement.  She was a highly respected art teacher. She had an intuition about balancing gentle guidance with encouragement, always understanding that students’ best work came through freedom of expression.  She pointed students in the right direction, but let them lead the way.

She was a wonderful nature photographer and a painter in both watercolours and acrylics. Many of her works hang proudly on the walls of her own home and those of family members. She sewed and later in life quilted. She made tremendous progress in researching her family history long before Ancestry.ca existed. She liked looking for covered bridges and waterfalls and lighthouses. She loved to read.  She loved her grandchildren and was so proud of the paths they are all travelling.  She will be greatly missed.

Fredrica is survived by her husband, David Givan, of Fredericton Junction, her daughter Riel Nason (Shane) of Quispamsis, and her son Davis Givan (Carmen) of London, Ontario, as well as her brothers Roger and David Robinson.  She is also survived by grandchildren Eli and Tess Nason and David, Jesse and Molly Givan. She was predeceased by her son Sean Givan and brother Clair Robinson.

There will be no visitation or service by family request.  Private internment will be at a later date. If you wish to remember Fredrica, in lieu of flowers, you could give a book to a child or donate one to a local school or library in her memory.