Faye Isabel Eccleston

Faye (Burnham) Eccleston, age 96 of Vancouver, BC, died peacefully in her sleep on Sunday, May 7, 2017. She was born in Vancouver on June 2, 1920 and is survived by her two sons, Glenn, of Calgary and Brian (Carla) of Pelham Manor, NY, two step granddaughters, Katherine and Kristina, and her sister-in-law Ruth Burnham of Calgary. She is predeceased by her husband Jim and sister-in-law Grace Eccleston, her sister Edythe, and her five brothers Bill, Frank, Jim, Bob, and Alan. Faye’s early years included many sporting accomplishments that ultimately saw her inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 1966. Those achievements included five consecutive years (1942-1946) as a key member (3 years as captain) of the Canadian Champion Senior Women’s Hedlunds Basketball team, multiple years as the rocket-armed, clean-up hitting third baseman for the BC Champion Senior A Women’s Hedlunds softball team, several years as a talented center forward for the Lower Mainland women’s all-star field hockey team that won repeated Pacific Northwest championships in the late 1940’s and a double big block from the University of British Columbia in 1939, amongst many other accomplishments. Faye became a very popular and accomplished phys-ed teacher and coach at Magee High School and then Vancouver Normal School before marrying Jim in 1952. Faye and Jim lived in North Vancouver for over 50 years, spending many happy times on the fairways of Seymour Golf Club where Faye and the Eccleston family were honored to add countless names to their circle of friends. Beyond her sporting and family activities Faye became a very active and passionate contributor to her community as a member of the original executive of the greater Vancouver YWCA, and the BC representative to the National Advisory Council on Fitness & Amateur Sports, attending meetings in Ottawa quite frequently. Her involvements also included being a member of the Capilano Community Council, the Grants Advisory Committee to the British Columbia Fitness and Amateur Sports Fund, and the North Vancouver Recreation Commission. She was also a founding member of the North Shore Women’s Liberal Commission and remained an active member and convention delegate for many years. Her extraordinary and contagious smile, her perpetual optimism, her devotion to her extended Burnham family and a constant desire to help others endeared Faye to everyone that had the pleasure to meet her. She will be profoundly missed. A special thanks is given to the care providers at South Granville Park Lodge in Vancouver. Friends and family are invited to attend a celebration of Faye’s life at 2 pm on Thursday, June 8, 2017 at Boal Chapel, 1505 Lillooet Rd., in North Vancouver. In lieu of flowers a donation in Faye’s memory may be made to the charity of your choice.

Arrangements under the direction of First Memorial Funeral Services, North Vancouver, BC.