Leigh Ann Miller

Leigh was born on August 6th , 1952 on the east side of Vancouver. After graduating from Vancouver Technical High School she enrolled at UBC and worked her way through 4 years of studies. Once she graduated, she worked in the field of community recreation in Parksville, Prince George and Vancouver. But her real goal was to travel.

Leigh married Michael Kannemeyer on short notice in 1977 if he was willing to travel. They travelled to Europe in the summer of 1979 for 2 months as a belated honeymoon. Touring the side roads in a rented car from Holland thru Belgium, France, Italy and Greece where the island of Paros became home for three weeks.

Her son Cassidy was born in 1982 on Napier Street. She dedicated herself to ensure that Cassidy was exposed to all the beauty and fun of childhood. There were always 3 or 4 boys romping in the basement. She was a mother to all the boys from the neighbourhood. In the eighties and nineties, she worked as a childminder, cashier, aqua fitness instructor and life guard at Templeton Pool. The whole neighbourhood knew her.

In 1999, Leigh was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was determined to survive and had the lump removed, underwent radiation and then tackled the chemo therapy. That experience changed her outlook on life and she convinced the family to move to Kelowna. However, Cassidy stayed behind to continue his education. Kelowna offered her a warmer outdoor climate to go hiking, cycling and play golf. She had enough of the rain in Vancouver. In Kelowna, Leigh made many friends. She was just that type of person. She worked in Senior's Assisted Living and enjoyed every moment of it. She new all the WWII songs by heart.

After the Covid years, life in the Okanagan seemed to fade and she wanted to move back to the coast to be closer to the family. This decision was accelerated when Leigh was diagnosed with Myeloma towards the end of 2022. The prognosis at that time by the Kelowna Cancer Clinic, was to adopt a regime of chemo treatment to control the cancer. At the end of 2023, a new life was started in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. The Cancer Clinic at NRGH took over the program started in Kelowna. Leigh immediately took up the task of finding a dog and Benji became her friend and her focus. She loved walking Benji down by the ocean at Neck Point Park. Her only regret was that she should have adopted a dog long ago.

Towards the end of July, Leigh complained about having abdominal pains. She was immediately hospitalized and underwent all the scans, MRI's and tests. The diagnoses was not good. Her cancer has spread and on August 1st she suffered a stroke as a result of the cancer.

Leigh was taken from her family and friends too soon. She lived full life. She travelled to Europe, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Her bubbling personality rubbed off even on strangers. Her calling was to cheer people up and show them the brighter side of life. Which she did with gusto until she retired in 2017.

In accordance with Leigh's wishes, an informal celebration of life will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Canadian Cancer Society or BC Children’s Hospital.