Marianne passed away peacefully on Friday morning, July 20, in the Richmond General Hospital after a long fight with cancer. Marianne is survived by her husband Doug and her two cats, Puck and Lucy, and her brothers Ken and Jim Strueby of Chilliwack. She was predeceased by her parents Meinard and Cecilia and her brothers Donald, Elmer and Jerry. She leaves behind hundreds of relatives and many close and loving friends.
Marianne was born in Humboldt, Saskatchewan, the youngest child and only daughter in the Strueby family. She grew up in Ocean Falls, BC where she was a proud member of that little town’s world-famous swimming team. She attended Notre Dame University in Nelson BC and spent two years teaching high school in Jamaica with CUSO. In 1975 she married the love of her life, Doug, whom she had met at Notre Dame. Together they loved to travel and entertain with friends.
She completed a pharmacy degree at UBC in 1982 and post-graduate work at VGH and worked as a pharmacist at the B.C. Cancer Hospital until she retired in 2009. Marianne was active in sports, including ice hockey, tennis, racquetball, and golf. She loved line dancing and Taiko drumming and she was a dedicated volunteer in several organizations, including the African Violet Society. For over 17 years, Marianne spent many hours volunteering at the Regional Animal Protection Society (RAPS) in Richmond and was very involved in the major growth and good work of that society. In 2018, Marianne was honoured with an award for her dedicated service to the welfare of her beloved cats and all the animals in the Society’s care.
Services will be held on Thursday, July 26 at 11 am at St Joseph the Worker, 4451 Williams Road in Richmond.
In lieu of flowers, donations to the Regional Animal Protection Society (RAPs) http://www.rapsbc.com/ will be gratefully appreciated