Lorraine Georgina Grescoe

At the height of the Great Depression, in the depths of a Manitoba winter, Lorraine Georgina joined the gregarious Grescoe clan in Winnipeg’s storied North End. The third of Christina and George’s four spirited children, she was a shy child who wore her ringlets and sunny optimism like a young Shirley Temple. By age four, her life’s work would be revealed: inspired by her talented oldest sister, she picked up a wooden shoe tree, tucked it under her chin, and demanded to learn the violin.

John Waterhouse taught her well, and by her mid-teens she was teaching and performing professionally with the CBC and Winnipeg Symphony orchestras. She attended Normal School to become a public-school music teacher—a plan interrupted by a dashing young RAF officer named Mike Ovenell who made her laugh at a party, swept her off to England (where she played with the BBC), and later gave her three cherished kids: Julie, Peter and Christa.

Lorraine followed her man across countries and provinces, bravely building new musical networks wherever she landed. She was a conductor with the Delta Youth Orchestra; founder of the Serenata Strings and the Fraser River Fiddlers; an examiner with the Royal Conservatory of Music. And over seven decades of teaching, she delivered the gift of music to hundreds of young people—though not without some bruising words to those who didn’t practice! And they, in turn, gave her joy, purpose, and a legitimate reason to have candy in the house.

Indeed, even as the shadow of dementia overcame Lorraine, she never forgot her true loves: her children, grandchildren (Kathryn, Adam, Russell, Margaret) and beloved great-grandchild (Ada); her siblings (Donna, Eleanor, Paul) and their families; and her many students spread around the world. In her last days, in a brief moment of lucidity, she whispered: “Love is everything.”

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Lorraine Grescoe Bursary for Junior Strings at the VSO School of Music

https://secure.vancouversymphony.ca/donate/q/lorrainegrescoe