Heather Marjorie Risk

Our beloved Heather passed away on 7 December, 2024, aged 85, in Vancouver General Hospital, where she had been born. Heather was predeceased by her parents, Don & Phoebe Fergusson, her older brother, Don, and her younger brother, Dougal.

Heather is survived by her husband of 61.5 years, Don, her children and their spouses, Hall & Tammy, Lindsay & Amanda, and Gerald & Jenny, and six grandchildren, Fergus & Maggie, Ben & Emma, and Matthew & Daniel. Heather is also survived by her younger brother, Rob Fergusson, her younger sister, Jeanne Kimes and her husband Bob, and her sisters-in-law, Barbi Fergusson and Heather Fergusson, and numerous cousins, nephews, nieces and their partners and children, and countless friends.

Heather learned her inspiring homemaking and home management skills at home from her mother. She consolidated that experience by obtaining her Home Economics degree from Oregon State University in 1961. She earned her teaching certificate from UBC. Heather spent 17 of her 20-year teaching career teaching foods and nutrition at Templeton High School. Heather loved teaching and her colleagues, and even more so, her students. She relished their accomplishments and was delighted whenever she encountered her former pupils.

Heather led an active lifestyle. She swam competitively for her beloved Crescent Beach Swim Club, and continued swimming there and elsewhere every summer of her life. Heather was a competitive ski racer as a teenager. She skied at Whistler the winter it opened, 1966, and there and elsewhere every winter into her late 70s. Heather was a distance runner for about 50 years. She and Don trained together for and ran two marathons and many Olympic-length triathlons. Until just a couple of months ago, she was walking some 15,000 steps a day. As an adult, Heather became a competent tennis player and golfer.

Heather’s friendship with her husband, Don, was her longest. They met at Crescent Beach when they were both 5 or 6 years old. Heather and Don were in the same split grade 6 and 7 class at Capilano school in North Vancouver. They had many interactions and common activities during high school, including swimming for CBSC, playing games with her siblings in the yard at 3910 Capilano Rd., her childhood home, and being confirmed together in the Anglican Church. Heather entered Oregon State University in 1957, and Don did for different reasons, in 1958. They started dating in their junior year. Heather and Don were engaged Christmas 1961 during Heather’s first year of teaching and Don’s first year of law school. They married June 8, 1963, in the same Anglican Church where they had been confirmed.

After marrying, they lived in Illinois, Oregon, North Vancouver, California, New York, Crescent Beach, and finally settled back in Vancouver in 1972.

Motherhood came naturally and relatively easily for Heather. She excelled at it. She brought Hall into the world in November 1966, and 23 months later, the twins, Lindsay and Gerald. Heather handled the chaos of moving and 3 kids within 2 years, with practicality, positivity, and extraordinary, tireless nurturing, love, care, and support. As they developed, she made them nutritious breakfasts, packed their lunches, and made sure we had dinner together as a family at the table most nights. Heather often walked them to school, encouraged their team sports, and attended their games. She organized family bike trips, ski weekends at Whistler, and family trips abroad. In the summers at Crescent Beach, she attended her kids’ and grandkids’ swim, tennis, and sailing lessons. At CBSC Galas, she joined each of them in mother, and later grandmother, daughter, and child swim relay races. To Heather’s great delight, she and her progeny often won. She was an exceptional “mom” and “Nana”.

Heather was a quiet, effective leader throughout her life. Heather led mostly by example, contributing her energy and enthusiasm and always demonstrating her values with humility, grace, wisdom, warmth, and an infectious smile. She was May Queen in her community; Honour Queen in Job’s Daughters. She executed leadership roles in her church, the Junior League, Science World in Vancouver, and her investment club, ‘Moneymakers’. For several years, Heather organized the Vancouver St. Andrews Ball. She loved the pipe and fiddle music and Scottish country dancing that took place there, and in the weekly lessons leading up to each year's Ball. Heather and Don loved the arts and attended many symphony concerts, live theatre, and operas each year.

In our nuclear family, Heather was our leader; and in our extended family, she became our Matriarch. She stitched the extended family together at reunions and lifetime events; and through constant communication. Heather was a consummate hostess, producing festive or ordinary meals for family and friends, each served with ease and lively conversation, and invariably with a thankful grace and blessing. Her children and grandchildren, like Heather had from her mother, learned and adopted her attitude of generous hospitality, and skills of food preparation and presentation.

Heather was a wonderful wife; my lover, my best friend, my life-long companion, my running, biking, swimming, skiing, tennis, golf, gym, and travel partner. In these last 5 years, as Heather suffered the constraints of her Alzheimer’s disease, she and we were blessed: her personality did not change; she was full of gratitude for the great good fortune in her life, for her children, her grandchildren, and all their mates, and her friends; she remained physically strong; she was genuinely happy; and we grew closer together. I came to realize she was awesome, and told her so, many times a day. Every day ended with an “I love you” and a smile for each other, and a warm hand held as we went to sleep. The last six weeks of Heather’s life were difficult. We shared tears and laughter. It was scary and intimate. I held her hand, stroked her forehead, arms, legs, and feet. She often was able to squeeze my hand and sometimes smile, or slap her arms and roll her eyes indicating her frustration and desire to be out of the hospital.

Heather lived her life by her values. She loved her God and his creation. Throughout all our years together, she was in her ‘happy’ place walking on a shoreline, whether ocean, river, or lakeside, whether rain or shine, finding shells on a beach in Hawaii or Bermuda, looking at the mountains and counting ships at anchor in English Bay, watching a sunset at Crescent Beach or anywhere, and always exclaiming “aren’t we lucky”. And she loved her family and friends like herself. Heather had a remarkable capacity to demonstrate her love, respect, warmth, humour, energy, generosity, and positivity. Heather formed and nurtured enduring friendships with whomever and wherever she played, studied, worked, volunteered, and lived.

In her last days, Heather called to her bedside four of her dearest friends. And in her last hours, her children, their spouses, and two of her youngest grandchildren were with her.

Heather was an extraordinary woman. We are blessed that she was part of each of our lives. Our grief will pass and she will live on, always welcoming and smiling, in our everlasting memories.

Dearest Heather: We loved you yesterday,

We Love you still,

We always have,

and We always will.

Rest in Peace, free from pain and every suffering.

Celebration of Heather’s life, open to all: church service at St. John’s, Vancouver, 5350 Baillie St, Vancouver, B.C, V5Z 3M5, at 3 pm, PST, on Thursday, 30 January, 2025.

Followed by a reception at Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club at 5 pm, PST so we can be in community and remember Heather. This too is open to all, however, if you plan to attend please RSVP to [email protected] so we can be sure there is enough space for all. Please do so by Thursday, 23 January, 2025.

In lieu of flowers, if you are so inclined, please make a donation, in Heather’s memory to the Canadian Cancer Society or the Alzheimer Society of BC.