Beatrice Burn (nee Brown) passed away peacefully on February 26, 2024 with her daughter and son by her bedside. She lived in and maintained her own home with the help of family until her death, little more than two weeks away from her 101st birthday.
Beatrice was predeceased by her husband, William, her parents, brothers, Jim and Alf, and sisters, Alice and Emma.
Beatrice was born in Broadview, Saskatchewan to parents Felix Brown and Mary Ellen Brown (nee Gaddie). When she was young, the family lived on a farm outside of Broadview. Later, the family moved to the city of Brandon, Manitoba and moved many times later. Beatrice’s father had a long career with the railway and took the family with him as he pursued job opportunities at various railway towns in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and British Columbia. In BC, the towns included Sicamous, Enderby and Stepney.
When Beatrice finished high school her father insisted that she attend a business school in Brandon to acquire marketable office skills. After she graduated, Beatrice worked for the Manitoba Telephone company. When she moved to Vancouver, with a good letter of reference from her employer, she quickly secured a job with BC Telephone company. In Vancouver, Beatrice met her future husband, William Burn, at a dance. After they married and started a family, Beatrice stopped working outside the home for a few years to raise the children. When the children were older, she went back to work for many years at Woodward’s department store in downtown Vancouver. In her early senior years she worked at a drugstore not far from the family home in east Vancouver and also volunteered many hours with the CNIB.
Beatrice’s beloved husband, William, passed away in 1981. Prior to his declining health, they enjoyed many road trips together exploring the beauty of British Columbia.
In 1984, after processing the deeply felt loss of her husband, Beatrice started the next chapter of her life with a move to a house she purchased in the Crest area of Burnaby, BC. She said it was her best decision. Her new neighbours were welcoming and always helpful. She loved the large yard with many trees and room for gardening. While working in her garden she delighted in stopping to chat with neighbours and passersby out for a walk.
Like her mother, Beatrice was a cook and baker and enjoyed preparing meals for her family and visitors. She was a talented seamstress sewing most of her and her young daughter’s clothes. She enjoyed the companionship of and strong bond with her daughter’s dog, Heidi. In her spare time she liked to keep abreast of the current news with the daily newspaper and to listen to music.
Most significantly, Beatrice’s overriding focus was her devotion to and caring love of her family. She was dearly loved and will be greatly missed by her daughter, Carol, and son, William.
Beatrice felt that she had a long and good life. It was her wish to forego a service or gathering. Her cremation ashes will be interred in a plot next to that of her husband at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Burnaby.