Marianne Blumenstiel

January 1934 - September 2025

Marianne was born and raised in Norfolk, England. She worked at the Norwich Union for five years until, in 1956, at an adventurous age of 22, she left her family behind and set sail on the Cunard RMS Ivernia to start a new life in Canada.

Marianne bravely crossed her new world from coast to coast, and eventually settled in Vancouver, where she met her husband Rolf at a YWCA dance. Together, they raised three children in West Vancouver.

Marianne was an active member in the community belonging to many organizations including St. Davids United Church choir, Toastmistress, West Vancouver Garden Club, North Shore Unitarian Church and the West Vancouver Seniors' Activity Centre. She worked for many years at the West Vancouver Memorial Library.

At 88 years of age, Marianne left West Van to live with her daughter in Tsawwassen. She was excited to be moving back to the country where she could be with family, and to tend her own garden in “Mother Earth” again. She became an active member of the Earthwise Society’s Garden Buddies program in Southlands, where she enjoyed sharing her passion with fellow gardeners.

She will be deeply missed by her children, Lloyd, Bob, and Sandra, her five grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, who lovingly knew her as Bluma, and by her two brothers and families in England. She will be forever loved.

A Celebration of Life for Marianne will be in West Vancouver on Sunday, November 16. If interested, email [email protected] for more details.