Lucinda Mary Taylor

Lucinda, Cinders, Mum, friend – to know her was to love her.

We were incredibly fortunate to have her love, kindness, creativity, intelligence and wit for as long as we did for our Mum lived until the grand age of 95 and four months. She would often say that she wanted to live to 100.

Lucinda Mary Stevenson (“Lucinda” or “Cinders”) was born in the north of Ireland in 1927 to James Stevenson and Kathleen Young. She was the youngest followed by Barbara and Bristow. They were born near Feeny in the family country home known as “Knockan”. She grew up with servants, tennis parties on the weekend and ponies and dogs. Her education took place at home along with time spent with family in England. She had an adventurous spirit, and as soon as she turned 18 years of age she joined the Women’s Royal Naval Service and served until the end of World War II as an Aircraft Director, bringing the pilots safely back to base. She was very proud of her service and received a letter and certificate from Veteran Affairs Canada in 2021. Her Toyota Corolla “avocado” had a veteran’s licence plate.

Her first marriage was to a Dutch Naval Officer when she was very young. She gave birth to her first daughter, Janna Kathleen. The young family moved from Ireland to the Netherlands to Indonesia (Surabaya) where they spent four years. Cinders made friends with everyone – ignoring class, colour or religious barriers, which were prevalent in those days. She loved to go to parties, always looking elegant, just like a movie star with stylish hats, gorgeous dresses and bright red lipstick.

There Lucinda met a handsome young Scot named Alan Cameron Taylor amongst the British community and they became friends. They had a common interest and dream which was to one day move to Canada. Lucinda played the organ in church and apparently Alan would go to church every Sunday to listen to her play.

Eight years later, Alan and Lucinda would meet again at Knockan. Lucinda had divorced the Dutch officer, returned to her family home with Janna and became a “Mum/Auntie” to her brother’s first two sons, Adrian and Peter (Adam) for the next five years.

Meanwhile, Alan had left Java to immigrate to Canada, a country which he wished to adopt as his new home after visiting Vancouver when travelling as a young boy from China to Canada to Scotland. He loved Canada because even after his tuberculosis reappeared after his arrival in Canada, he was sent to a hospital for recovery versus being asked to leave. Once full recovery had occurred, Alan decided to visit his Mum in England as well as visit Cinders in Ireland whom he fondly remembered from his days in Surabaya. Upon their reunion, sitting on the front oval lawn of Knockan, Alan proposed to Lucinda, and she said yes! There started the adventures of Alan and Lucinda who married in Penticton, BC on November 14, 1959. Two children were born in Penticton, Lesley Teresa and James Patrick Cameron.

Alan and Lucinda moved the family to West Vancouver where the three children went to school. They led a very adventurous life filled with travel to Hawaii, Indonesia, the UK, Europe, freighter trips to New Zealand and Rarotonga, Panama Canal cruises, and at least seven road trips across Canada in “Charlie” (fully-equipped Dodge Van with kayaks and bikes) stopping in “secret spots” along the journey.

Lucinda loved music and the house was filled with the sounds of jazz, classical and international music and she encouraged all of her children to play an instrument or two. She was also a fantastic cook and loved to entertain vast numbers of friends and family in her home. Fresh baked Irish soda bread would greet the children in the morning as well as oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies. Special dinners would be a full Indonesian meal with all of the fixings. Delicious! And then there were family gatherings with neighbours at Christmas time and New Years with friends she kept for life.

Lucinda studied at Capilano College to become a preschool teacher and taught for many years in a private West Vancouver preschool where she made lifelong friends with her colleagues as well as parents of her students. Education was very important to Lucinda and she was especially fond of the four-year old students whom she taught, helping to bring out their creativity and curiosity. One student who attended preschool from time to time with his cousin was Justin Trudeau.

Lucinda also volunteered for many years at the Vancouver Aquarium which she loved and formed many wonderful friendships there. She had a great love of nature and her meticulous notes and drawings of marine life formed part of her educational narratives for the children she taught at the Aquarium. She also went on a special excursion to Haida Gwaii to study the endemic species.

Alan and Lucinda were married for 45 years, and in his final years she looked after him with great care and love leading up to his passing on December 25, 2004. He was the love of her life, her “darling heart.”

Lucinda will be remembered for her love of life, voracious appetite for books, keen interest in art and history, love of music, piano and singing, long walks in the forest to hear the birds singing (she could identify each bird’s unique song), wonderful travel journals and photo albums of trips around the world, detailed drawings and notes on everything she saw and loved in nature, her story-telling, enthusiasm, creativity, curiosity, kindness, and intelligence.

Lucinda will also be remembered for her fearless stand on human rights. She championed women’s rights, and LGBQ rights in the early ‘80s and joined pro-choice demonstrations over the decades. She didn’t ‘lecture’ anyone, but would firmly call out racism and injustice providing her children with a model of integrity and compassion.

Her children will miss her forever. She knew how much they loved her. They looked after her with much love in her last years as her care increased.

She would always say how lucky she was to have such a loving family, James (and Gayle), Janna (and Pat), and Lesley (and David).

Lucinda/Mum you will be missed by your family in Northern Ireland, Ireland, England, France along with your many friends from all over the world. Your feisty spirit, your stand on individual rights, your spirit and love will remain with us always.

You were a unique person. You were always ahead of your times. We love you!

Please raise your glass to toast Lucinda whose “special Cinder’s drink” was warm milk with a shot of CC (Canadian Rye). Here is her message to all of us:

A special toast to all of our friends

Those who have gone ahead to show us the way

Those who are still with us

And those who are yet to come

May they all have a long and happy life

May they enjoy themselves, be good to themselves, be good to other people

We wish them all a long and happy life with much joy and love

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.firstmemorialnorthvancouver.com for the Taylor family.