Mary Elizabeth (Leila) Speer

Leila Speer passed away peacefully in the early morning of January 19th with family at her side. She is survived by her son Ren and daughter-in-law Marilyn, as well as grandson, Brendan. Leila is predeceased by her husband William, sisters Sadie and Millie and brother Jim. She is survived by her sister Isabel and brothers Mervyn and Winston.

Leila Patterson was born in Donegal, Ireland and married William Speer in August 1950. Together with their young son, they emigrated to Toronto in October 1956. Leila had a very successful career as an elementary school teacher for over 40 years, having taught in both Ireland and Canada. The years in Toronto included many wonderful times up at their cottage on Fox Lake in Muskoka, especially having some great craic with family visiting from Ireland.

Upon retirement, Bill and Leila moved to a beautiful property in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, where they enjoyed rearing a few sheep, golfing and gardening.

As this became too much, they moved to North Vancouver and quickly made new friends. Upon William’s passing after 64 years of marriage, Leila continued on her own most independently. Leila expressed great interest in what everyone was doing and always loved visits, phone calls and emails from family and friends.

Leila had a very strong sense of family, from her small family in Canada to all the many relatives in Ireland and enjoyed keeping those connections strong over all the years.

Reaching 100 years of age was a big goal for Leila and she was very determined to get there, fueled by her positive attitude. She really enjoyed all the happiness and celebrations surrounding it with both family and friends.

The family would like to thank the management and staff at Chartwell Churchill House Retirement Residence for their warmth, love and kindness these past seven years. She had many friends there. We would also like to acknowledge the exceptional care at the North Shore Hospice during her final days.

At Leila’s request, there will be no service, instead a small family gathering to celebrate her wonderful life. She wanted her recent 100th birthday celebrations to be the joyous memory. In lieu of flowers, a donation may be made to the North Shore Hospice and Palliative Project.