Elsie Yau Lin Lee

Elsie was admitted into hospice on December 23rd, 2025 and was only able to enjoy 3 short weeks with the Vancouver Hospice Society before she died on the morning of January 13th, 2026. She loved her “small studio apartment” where she hosted family and friends who came to visit. She talked many times about the delicious homemade meals, and most importantly the very caring and kind staff and volunteers that made her last weeks of life as comfortable as possible.

Elsie is predeceased by:

Father, Tze Choi Chan 陳子財

Mother, King Cheung Chan 陳張琼

Sister, Po Lin Chan

Brother-In-Law, Kwok Cheung Lee

Brother-In-Law, Wing Tak Lai

Grandson, Cale Way Chee Lee 李偉凯

She is survived by:

Husband, Douglas Richard Lee 李長達

Stepdaughter, Annameika Renora Lee 李爱卿

Sister, Fung Lin Chan Lee

Brother, Chu Kong Chan Yip (Yung Tai)

Brother, Pak Hung (Lai Ping)

Sister, Chau Lin Chan Lai

Brother in law, Ying Lam

Sister, Ada Cheung (Jay)

As well as many nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews.

Elsie immigrated to Canada in the early 70’s and was very proud to become a Canadian. She initially worked in Alberta before making her way to BC where she enrolled in business classes while working for banks… eventually working primarily for the Bank of Montreal for over 30 years.

She knew her mind, her likes and dislikes, and what she was comfortable with. This very much came through in how she managed her ill health and had a strength of character to stick to her beliefs. While some may have wanted her to make other choices, she had spent many hours researching and asking doctors, nurses and experts for information so that she could make informed decisions about her health and do what was right for her. Several health experts commented on how informed she was about her health and how clear she was around what she did and didn’t want.

For many years she provided administrative type support to her Chinese class. Through this class she developed and maintained many long term friendships.

She always enjoyed meeting up with friends, going on many short and longer out of country tour trips with Doug as well as with friends and family. She made regular trips to Hong Kong to stay close to her family there.

She said once that her townhouse was lucky because after she bought it in 1988 she meet Doug and got married shortly after. They had just celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary on December 22nd, 2025. She supported Doug’s Tai Chi in numerous ways. She enjoyed and practiced yoga, played ping pong at the community centre for many years. She loved taking classes and learning new things whether they were about new languages, or classes for seniors on online safety and how to use tablets. She had a deep appreciation and enjoyment of art and history. She visited the Chinatown storytelling centre a few times and loved walking the Dr Sun Yat-Sen Gardens in Chinatown.

While she could drive, she was an avid bus rider and knew the local bus routes and schedules off by heart! She loved being centrally located and how easy it was for her to get to almost anywhere she needed by bus from her lucky townhouse.

Elsie was very friendly and great conversationalist, easily picking up friends and maintaining several multi-year friendships.

She will be greatly missed by many and all who knew and loved her.