Mrs. Si Lai Chan

Mrs. Si Lai Chan, 86, of Vancouver, British Columbia, peacefully passed away on February 20, 2023.

Si Lai Chan, loving mother, grandmother, devout Christian, and caregiver to so many throughout her life, was received into the gates of heaven. She passed peacefully into the night with her daughter Serrena and son Harrison by her side. Si Lai (known to all as ‘Si Mou’) was born in 1936, in Guangzhou, China, to her parents York-Lan Zhong and Yok Juan-Ye Hui. After leaving China for Hong Kong in 1957, she graduated teachers college and became a school teacher. She soon met her partner for life and husband of 52 years, Kei-Ciu John Chan, and were married in Hong Kong in 1963. Both had embodied the Christian faith at an early age and dedicated the majority of their lives to serving the word of God. Si Lai became a widow in 2015, and continued to live her independent and free spirited life to her last days. She is survived by loving daughter Serrena, son-in-law Daniel, son Harrison, daughter-in-law Jennifer, and beautiful grandchildren; Ethan and Hope. Si Lai and her immediate family that included two young children immigrated to Montreal, Canada in 1972, where she resided for over 20 years. In the late 1970’s, she and the family moved to various cities in the United States for a short period as part of her husband’s pastor development and congregational retreats. Finally as retirees having enough of the harsh Montreal weather, her and her husband moved to Vancouver in the early 2000’s. In Vancouver, family, friends, and church members remained a staple, along with an endless bounty of Chinese food that allowed her to be a vocal critique of any visited Asian restaurant. Throughout her last years, she has been a cherished member of the Wesley Methodist Church of Canada, everyone there being considered and treated as her own family. ‘Si Mou’ wore many hats throughout her years; grade school teacher, pianist, mother, chef (high school adult education classes, as well as a hired personal chef), semi-conductor manufacturer at Sony, gardener (producing vegetables beyond human scale), avid florist, seamstress, fashionista, and a ‘yarnie’ (loved to knit), and coincidentally – a ‘hat’ maker. Each of these represented passions in her life, and she would always apply maximum effort in getting better at each activity with many of the results being passed along to the church as charitable donations. Spending time developing these talents were hers alone, however, all other available moments were dedicated to the church, speaking and conversing with congregation, always offering support and hope – always finding the beauty in things and in people. ‘Si Mou’ will be sincerely missed by those who have known her and have been touched by her gracious demeanor and humble nature. She was a kind soul and to be loved by her angelic character was to be truly blessed.

卑詩省溫哥華市八十六歲的陳許斯禮女士於2023年2月20日安詳離世。慈愛的母親、祖母、虔誠的基督徒和一生照顧許多人的陳斯禮被接進天堂之門。她在女兒倩韻和兒子禧信的陪伴下安詳地度過了深夜。斯禮（眾所周知的「師母」) 於1936年出生在中國廣州，她的父母是許煜（許均 宜）和鄭若蘭。1957年離開中國赴港後，她從師專畢業，成為一名學校教師。她 很快遇到了終生伴侶和結婚五十二年的丈夫陳竒超（陳約翰），並於1963年在香 港結婚。兩人從小就信奉基督教，並將一生的大部分時間奉獻給上帝的話語。斯禮於2015年成為寡婦，繼續過著獨立自由的生活直到生命的最後一天。她身後留 下了可愛的女兒倩韻, 女婿文輝、兒子禧信、兒媳月儀和漂亮的孫子們君祥和荺望。斯禮和她的家人，包括兩個年幼的孩子, 於1972年移民到加拿大蒙特利爾，並在 那裡居住了二十多年。 在七十年代後期，作為她丈夫的牧師發展和會眾退修會的 一部分，她和家人短期搬到了美國的各個城市。最後，作為受夠了蒙特利爾惡劣 天氣的退休人員，她和她的丈夫在2000年初搬到了溫哥華。在溫哥華，家人、朋 友和教會成員仍然是主要，還有無窮無盡的中餐，這讓她成為了對任何一家亞洲餐廳的口頭批評。在她最後的歲月裡，她一直是加拿大衛斯理衛理公會的一名珍貴成員，那裡的每個人都被視為自己的家人。師母在她的歲月裡身兼數職；小學教師、鋼琴家、母親、廚師（高中成人教育課程，以及聘請的私人廚師)、索尼的半導體製造商、園丁（生產超出人類規模的蔬菜)、狂熱的花匠、女裁縫、時尚達人，以及「纱线狂」（喜歡編織)，巧合的是一個「帽子」製造商。 每一項都代表了她生命中的激情，她總是盡最大努力在每項活動中做得更好，其中許多成果作為慈善捐款傳遞給了教會。花時間發展這些才能是她一個人的，然而，所有其他可用的時間都獻給了教會，與會眾交談和交談，總是提供支持和希望，是在事物和人身上發現美。

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared below for the Chan family.