Beverley Joan Ferrie

My heart is breaking today as I write this very sad post. The Heavens gained a lovely angel when our mother, Joan Ferrie passed away peacefully on August 14 surrounded by her children, John and Cindy. Joan managed to live past her 90th birthday, even with the significant health challenges she faced.

Joan was born and raised in Montreal. She met my father Jock in Montreal. They were married for 65 years and moved across the country together where they met numerous incredible lifelong friends. We will all remember Joan for her love and kindness. Joan will be very much missed by family and her lifelong friends that she made easily as she moved (often reluctantly!) across the country from Montreal, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Calgary and Vancouver.

Dear Mom, we were so sad to lose your beautiful presence. We will remember you with love often. You were generous, compassionate, beautiful and very elegant. But most of all, your incredible creative talent knew absolutely no bounds. From hand painted Winnie the Pooh tables to decorating gorgeous Aspen ski chalets, to making hand sewn Halloween costumes for us, we were all enamoured with your creativity.

We loved hearing from Joan’s beloved friend Carol that when Joan was shopping in New York City for treasures at interior design Valhalla, the Bunny Williams store, she “moved at the pace and focus of an Olympic athlete when she was working” with Carol’s credit card in hand. Decisive, experienced, precise and laser sharp, Joan could size up a room in under five minutes and draw up a floor plan for every stick of furniture on the back of a napkin. Joan was a “creative genius, an Einstein of design, color and style.”

Joan was widely known for her immeasurable good taste and her iconic designs. A legend in her field Joan was the "Sister Parish of Vancouver's interior design community." She will be remembered by all that knew her work, as one of the greatest of all time.”

Joan’s friendships across Canada of all ages lasted a lifetime; her interior design customers turned into her lifelong friends. Joan would boss her friends and family around and sometimes used the redial function on her cellphone like a weapon! We all leaned on Joan for love and support. Many of Joan’s friends became a true addition to our family and “soon became under the power of Joan’s spell.”

We are forever grateful that Joan and Jock got to spend time in gorgeous Mougins, France with her beloved friend Pam. “Her innate sense of style, color and place were brilliant and I have so many fond memories of us planning and working together. She was instrumental in helping me create our beautiful homes and we both got such deep satisfaction out of our collaborations.”

Mom loved a party and her white wine spritzers and enjoyed our family gatherings at Ray and Cindy’s house in Langley- a house she swore she would never visit as Langley was “too far.” After her first trip to the “boonies”, Joan visited almost every weekend! We had to stop Joan from rearranging the paintings and furniture!

Incredibly, even with her health challenges, Joan lived her life with lots of curiosity- she knew weeks head which day the new Vogue, Architectural Digest, Town and Country or Veranda hit the stands, and she had to get them delivered to her “now!” As my brother says, never play Trivial Pursuit with my mother- with her steel trap mind, she knew and remembered everything and almost every answer. Highly competitive, it was also a danger to play croquet, bocci ball, bridge or any card game with Joan.

With Joan, we laughed a lot - Joan had a great sense of humor, was extremely intelligent and always on top of everything going on in the world.

We are very thankful for the wonderful care that Joan received at VGH and Point Grey Private Hospital. I wanted to share part of this Facebook post by John when we found out that Joan would be joining my dad Jock at Point Grey Private Hospital: “Last night at 5 pm, we heard that my mother has been accepted into the same care facility my father is in. This morning, the transfer couldn't have gone smoother. Two nurses, two paramedics and myself following with moms books, teddy bears and cosmetics. An hour later, I wheeled my 94 year old father into my mother room. They had not seen each other in nine months. They were very happy to see each other and held each others hands. Today would be their 65th anniversary. I left the hospital in tears.”

Joan loved stuffed teddy bears and our family’s 5 Lhasa Apso dogs- Scooter, Polly, Gatsby and Maddy. She delighted in having a visit with our newest Lhasa Apso puppy, Max, who snuggled closely to Joan in her lap. I know our Lhasa Apsos are waiting for Joan in heaven. I hope they have teddy bears, magazines and board games in heaven.

Mom, you touched all of our lives in many wonderful ways and we will remember you always. I loved you very much and will miss you dearly. I am going to try live my life to the fullest from your example, and think about what I wear more when I leave the house (“you are NOT really going to wear THAT out?)”

Mom, thanks for leaving all of us with so many great memories. You will always be in our hearts and thoughts. May you rest in peace and may your memory be a blessing. Thank you to all Joan’s very special friends across the country for your incredible support. We raise a glass of wine to Joan!

Details to follow about Joan’s Celebration of Life.

Love Cindy