Nancy Westbury

Nancy Westbury died peacefully on Monday, December 30, 2019 at the age of 93 years. Born on November 26, 1926 to Jean and Keith McAllister, Nancy spent most of her formative years in Gilgandra, New South Wales, Australia. She was athletic, played tennis and field hockey and was a very fast runner. She trained as a registered nurse and midwife at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney. After working in Broken Hill and other places in New South Wales for several years she travelled to England with her sister Jessie via the Suez Canal in 1952. She and Jessie both worked in London and visited many places in Europe before moving to Canada. After working in Toronto and Vancouver, Nancy moved to Calgary where she married Richard, the love of her life, on December 18, 1954. Together they raised a family and built their lives in Canada. Nancy worked at the Colonel Belcher Hospital in Calgary and returned to work in nursing after raising her children. A nurse to the core, she took care of all her family and was able to comfort and care for her youngest daughter Fiona during her struggle with multiple myeloma. Nancy loved flowers and often took flowers from her garden to her patients. Nancy was generous, witty and intuitive and always ready with a cup of tea and a listening ear in times of joy and sorrow.

Nancy took an active role in raising her six grandchildren, who share many fond memories of sleepovers, breakfasts, and walks with Grandma Nancy. She loved nature and camped with her family at Crawford Bay, BC well into her eighties. Staying connected with family was very important to Nancy and she wrote lengthy letters on blue airmail envelopes to her own mother, Jean McAllister every single week for 23 years. She always kept in touch and loved to have a good chat on the phone with her friends, relatives in Australia and her son John in England.

She will be lovingly remembered and deeply missed by her husband of 65 years, Richard Westbury; her children John, Elizabeth “Liz”, Eleanor “Ellie” (George Taven); her grandchildren; Nicholas, Charlotte, Anna, Allister, Katrina , and Daniel; her sister Shirley and many relatives in Australia.

Nancy was predeceased by her parents, Keith and Jean McAllister; her beloved youngest daughter, Fiona Stewart, her sisters Gladys, Marjorie, Joan, Jessie, and Isobel, her brothers Donald, Keith, Jack, Alan, and Charles.

A Memorial Service will be held at Foster’s Garden Chapel, 3220 – 4 Street N.W., Calgary, Alberta (across from Queen’s Park Cemetery), on Friday, January 3, 2020 at 10:00 A.M.

Memorial donations in Nancy’s name will be gratefully accepted by the Veteran’s Food Bank or Salvation Army.

The family would like to extend their deepest gratitude to all the doctors, nurses, and staff at the Colonel Belcher Care Centre for their comfort and compassionate care of Nancy.