Jane Paterson

Fare thee well, and if forever, still forever, fare thee well.

Jane passed away peacefully on Sunday 25th July 2021 at the Oceanside Hospice in Parksville. She is survived by her husband Mike, daughter Andrea, granddaughter Megan, and predeceased by son Dean.

Jane was born in Bishop Auckland, Co. Durham (Land of the Prince Bishops as she always used to shout out when she passed those signs on the road). She was from a family of seven children and is survived also by eldest sister Betty and youngest sister Sarah. As well as immigrating from Co. Durham to Terrace Bay Ontario in 1979, moving to Oakville, then BC and ending up on Vancouver Island, Jane was always up for the adventures that took her to faraway places including Iran, Borneo and Brazil. Even though she could not swim, she was game to go out on many sailboat adventures up and down the BC coast and into the waters of Washington State, not batting an eyelid in some really bad weather. After many years of just going to marinas overnight, Mike asked Jane about anchoring. She said she would try it and, to Mike’s surprise, she said she preferred it. Mike was impressed. Turns out the reason was she didn’t have to panic as Mike struggled to dock the boat in some crowded marina.

Jane’s big things in life were her family, friends, mah-jong, bling (in a big way), clothes, dressing up for the occasion, gardening and recently she became an avid picture taker and iPad user to keep in touch.

Jane enjoyed a glass (or two) of red wine and of late that changed to Guinness (Dr. said she had to drink plenty of liquids.) and she loved to laugh (even at Mike’s jokes) and right to the end, she shared a tremendous sense of humour with her family and friends.

Her favourite word was “Unbelievable” and she truly was. She will be missed tremendously and loved forever.

A huge thank you goes to the family doctor Dr. Steyn and to palliative care Dr. Hunter, the nurses that helped Mike and Andrea look after Jane at home and the nurses in the Oceanside Hospice who took care of Jane in the final two days.

A well deserved thank you also to the Oceanside Hospice Society and its volunteers who supplied the many things needed to support Mike and Andrea in caring for Jane at home. Any donations to the Oceanside Hospice Society (oceansidehospice.com) in memory of Jane would be appreciated.