Anne Hanson was born on June 23, 1936.  Mom grew up on a farm in Burnaby.  She married her loving husband, Fred in 1956 and took on a life long carrier as Domestic Engineer.  She was blessed with three daughters, Brenda, Pauline and Lorna and lived in Kitsilano all her married life.  She loved this area.  She thought it was the perfect place to live. Throughout her life she loved the wonderful companionship of her love and best friend, Fred.
Many trips to the Okanagan included piling the van with numerous boxes of fresh fruit with the van down on the overloads.  The following days would be busy canning.  Every family member participated, but Mom was in charge of quality control.  We camped throughout BC with our cartopper.  Limit catches of trout were common.  In the early 70’s ocean boating looked appealing, so they bought their first power boat and put 600 hour on it in 2 years.  We spent several weeks each summer exploring all the bays and spits in the waters of Desolation Sound, Howe Sound, and the Gulf Islands.  We commonly anchored and rowed ashore with a hibatchi.  We ate fresh oysters on the half shell, buttered clams and salmon.  Dad brought the box of wine and Mom had every detail worked out right down to the appropriate condiments.  In 1974 Mom and Dad joined the Thunderbird Yacht Club where they met many friends over the years.  Ekins Point became their home away from home during the summer months.  Days were filled with cleaning Dad’s prawn catch, afternoon swims and exchanging stories at dock parties.
A great sadness in her life was the passing of her daughter Brenda, who battled leukemia for 10 years.  She was always proud of her three children graduating from UBC.
In the later years they traveled in their 5th wheel to California, Alaska, Yukon and North West territories.  In the mid 1980’s Mom and Dad started to see the world.  They travelled to South America, South Africa, the Galapagos Islands, Europe, Indonesia, Morocco, Bali, Russia, Thailand and Turkey.  Mom was fascinated by the different cultures and learning about their history.  A highlight was riding a 110 year old elephant in Thailand and a camel in Morocco.
Mom spent many, many hours in her kitchen and her garden.  She was a perfectionist at this. Even the cucumbers had to be cut up a certain way.  Mom knew more about gardening than she let on.  Her rhubarb appeared weeks earlier than any of the neighbors and beans grew as high as the sky.  Who knew kale could be picked year round.  Some people knew Mom as the kiwi lady as she harvested hundreds of kiwi a year.  Mom would always say “come and see my garden”…..  and she would delight in sharing pieces of it with you.  One would never leave empty handed.
We will think of Mom when the primulas, tulips and daffodils sprout up and when we plant our garden each spring.  Mom would be happy about this.  We love you Mom and will miss you.