Mary Valentine Montgomery

Mary passed away peacefully on December 5, 2016. She is survived by her loving husband Billy, of 61 years. Daughter Elaine, son-in-law Colin, son Alan and daughter Sandra. She had five grandchildren, Conor, Kyle, Grant, Sean and Bethany. Mary was born in Glasgow, Scotland to Thomas and Jean McNab. She had one brother George, all of whom are now deceased. Mary loved her Scottish heritage and was very proud of it. She came to Canada in 1953 with her parents and brother. She knew this was where she wanted to live but went back to Scotland to marry the love of her life, Billy. They were married in Glasgow on November 8, 1955. Elaine was born in 1960. In 1963 Mary, Billy and Elaine immigrated to Vancouver. Alan was born in 1967 and then Sandra in 1968. Needless to say, she was a busy mom! They moved to Richmond in 1972 where they raised their three children. In 1991 they moved to South Surrey where they stayed and met many new friends and also met old friends again that had also moved from Richmond.

Mary trained at the Ear, Nose & Throat Hospital in Glasgow, Scotland. Mary’s passion was nursing, where she worked at the Richmond General Hospital in the Extended Care Unit. She was a natural at her job. She was so caring and compassionate and got very attached to her patients. She would come home from work telling us stories about some of the patients, some funny and some sad. She was also loved by many of them as she lit up a room with her big smile, sparkling eyes and Scottish brogue. People were drawn to Mary because of her kindness and great sense of humor. She was also a shop steward and then secretary of the Hospital Employees’ Union at the Richmond Hospital for many years. She took this responsibility very seriously and spent many long hours after her work days to complete her tasks.

Mary enjoyed knitting, crocheting and sewing. She was very artistic and was basically good at anything she tried to do. She loved to sing and had a beautiful voice. She loved any kind of music and was a great dancer. She loved animals and took excellent care of her little dogs, spoiling them. Most of all, she loved her family. She enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren and making them laugh.

She enjoyed the trips she took with Billy to Florida, Jamaica, Hawaii and the cruises they took, especially to Alaska and a Mexican cruise with Elaine and Colin, Kyle and Sean.

Sadly, after only being retired for a short time, Mary was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2000. She fought this disease very bravely and carried on with her life as well as she could for many years. In 2010 Mary entered the Czorny Alzheimer Centre until her passing. She was very well loved there and once again brightened everyone’s day with her smile. She was also very compassionate to her fellow residents there, once again practicing her nursing skills in trying to comfort them and help them as best she could. The staff have many stories of Mary’s kindness. She also didn’t let them get away with much telling them that it was time to get back to work after their coffee breaks!

We would like to thank the excellent care that Mary got from the staff at Czorny, especially from Sukhi, Pat, Laine, Melanie, Maureen, Meg and Louise, and all the others that are too many to name. A special thank you to Jocelyn for all of the great photos she gave us of Mary.

Please no flowers, if you would like to do something, a donation to the Alzheimer’s Society of B.C. would be very much appreciated.

A Celebration of Life for Mary will be held in South Surrey in February. If you would like to attend please contact Elaine at: 604-274-5174 or e-mail [email protected] or Sandra at [email protected]. Please let us know of any memories or stories you have of Mary.

Rest in peace now Mary. You are so very loved and we know we have our own special angel looking out for us.