Betty Menai Stephen

the age of 102. Mop was a beloved mother to daughters Johanna (Ron) and Lib (Jonathan); a cherished grandmother to Andrew (Steph), Emily, David and Kate. She even had the chance to meet her great-granddaughters Olivia and Chloe. Her whimsical nickname belied her incredible strength and resiliency, but perfectly spoke to her sense of fun and passion for life. Mop was our rock - a positive thinker, an amazing listener, a pillar of strength and guidance; but above all, she was utterly dedicated to her family.

Betty was born in Porth, a small mining town in Wales. Drawn by an undeniable sense of adventure, she left for Bristol at the age of 18 (1938) to train as a nurse. She joined the army nursing corps up to graduation, having trained through nightly air raids during the Battle of Britain. In 1944, on D-Day+24, Betty, along with her fellow nurses of the 110th Field Hospital, had a harrowing crossing of the British Channel as an air battle raged overhead. Thankful to reach the beaches of Normandy safely, they were carried to shore by waiting British Troops. From there, Betty spent months working in a tent hospital, a world of canvas and mud, close to the front. While on furlough in Bruges, she met her future husband, John a Scotsman and Officer with the Engineering Corps. Their romance continued by letter for the rest of the war until they were both stationed in India. They married in 1946 in Nainital in the foothills of the Himalayas.

After the war, Betty and John welcomed their elder daughter Johanna, and John's work as a civil engineer took the young family on some globetrotting adventures to London, Sierra Leone and Baghdad. In 1958, after Lib was born, they moved to North Vancouver while John worked on the construction of the Seymour dam. They immediately sensed they had found their true home in Canada, so while John’s work again moved them, this time to Athens for 9 years, they returned and settled permanently in West Vancouver in 1973. An avid reader, letter writer and Jane Austenite, Betty became a volunteer with the West Vancouver Memorial Library, ensconcing herself in her community. She also became a dedicated member of local book and bridge clubs.

Betty was forever a pioneer, forging a new perspective on women’s roles in society with her and her compatriots’ contributions to the war effort. But that pioneering spirit remained on display as she bravely forged a life for her young family in unfamiliar places, with new languages and customs and no familiar faces.

Despite Betty’s remarkable story, it was in the everyday, the small moments, her time as “Mop”, that leave us with the deepest of impacts. Mop was always there for all of us, in every way, for everything, from the trivial to the earth-shattering. When her husband John developed Parkinson’s disease, she became a steadfast, compassionate caregiver, and still managed to find humour and hope in the battle. Mop was an unwavering support for her daughters and a devoted grandmother. She taught her grandchildren to bake, knit them sweaters (along with matching ones for their stuffed animals!), and was a tireless host for sleepovers. She attended every concert, race and award ceremony. All the birthdays, all the Christmases and every little moment in between, none went unrecognized or uncelebrated.

She faced every challenge with determination, grace and optimism. We are forever grateful to her magnificent caregivers who provided such magnificent care and allowed us all to navigate her journey with dementia with dignity and love. Equal parts strong and firm, loving and compassionate, Mop was a truly extraordinary human being, and her spirit lives on in all of us whose lives she touched along the way.