Annie Ward

Annie Ward (Kryciak) died peacefully of pneumonia in Vancouver, BC, on Sunday October 23, 2022, at the age of 98. Born January 9, 1924, in Calder Saskatchewan, she was the second of seven children. Headstrong and fearless, Annie followed her sister Doris to Vancouver at the age of 18 to work at the Hotel Vancouver and Woodward’s Finance Department. Wanderlust led her to Alberta in 1950 where she worked enough hours at Chateau Lake Louise to buy a muskrat coat and earn a train ticket to Toronto. Annie’s life work was in accounting (Eaton’s, Norton Motors, Van Der Hout Associates, Gabriel of Canada). She managed to do her own income tax returns (on paper) up until the age of 95 with the help and patience of her long term accounting friend Roxann Robertson. She was skilled, hard working and enjoyed her work, but her true love was golf. Annie especially loved volunteering at the Canadian Open, where she could meet celebrity golfers, including Tiger Woods, have her photo taken with him and return with it the next year requesting his signature! She had a love for good food and travel. She travelled extensively with family and friends well into her 80’s. At the age of 90, she returned to Vancouver to be nearer to her family. Always an opportunist, Annie saw a visit to the St. Paul’s Pacemaker clinic as a chance to get a good meal at a favourite restaurant!

Annie was predeceased by sisters Doris and Jean and brothers Bob, Dick and John. She is survived by sister Mary Matheson, sister-in-law Sheila Kriss and brother-in-law Ed Beketa, as well as numerous nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews.

Special thanks to Dr. Jay Slater for his attentive care and support of Annie during her last months and to Dr. Barbara Trott who cared for Annie prior to her move to South Granville Park Lodge. In addition, our deepest appreciation of Dr. Richard Rosin and Heleanna Procyshyn of the Older Adult Mental Health Team, and the staff at South Granville Park Lodge (Cecilia, Harpreet, Cathy, Suki, Zdenka, Leonard, and Nicholas) for their ongoing attention to Annie's needs which allowed her to remain comfortable and independent until the end. The family also is thankful to manager Lara Novakovic and staff at The Terraces on Seventh where Annie lived when she first moved back to Vancouver.

The family will hold a memorial to celebrate Annie's life at a future date.