Rosalie Chitose McAllister

Throughout her life Rosalie was remarkably committed to her family, friends, and furthering social justice. She was firmly dedicated to a wide range of pursuits including science and the study of nature, literature and art.

With her beloved husband, Dr. Carey Douglas McAllister (1931-2011) she raised three children, Angus Takao (Ania Gelbert), Murdoch Koji (Monika McAllister) and Kirsten Emiko who have also pursued careers to make the world a better place. She is also survived by her beloved granddaughter, Kaisa Gelbert. Rosalie was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1931 where her father (Yatsumatsu Nakashima) and mother (Miyuki Nakashima, nee Mukai) settled in Coast Salish territories after leaving Mirozu, Wakayama-ken in Japan. In her early childhood, she lived in a house on Jackson Street together with her sister Lillian, brother Bob, sister Margaret and their parents.

In 1942 the Canadian government stripped them of their citizenship rights and forcibly relocated them to the East Lillooet internment camp in B.C.’s Fraser River canyon where her brothers, Frank, Rick, Herb and Gary were born. She received a scholarship from Lillooet’s high school to pursue studies at the University of British Columbia, achieving top grades in her undergraduate cohort and a Masters in Biochemistry in the 1950s. She then moved to Nanaimo with her husband, Carey, in the late 1950s where they brought up their three children.

In Nanaimo she worked at the Department of Fisheries’ Biological Station, and after receiving her teaching degree from UBC, taught in public schools as well as at Malaspina College. She was the president of Nanaimo’s chapter of the Voice of Women, an anti-war organization, and worked tirelessly with others for anti-racist, environmental and social justice causes. She was a skilled potter, and loved fly fishing, travel and birdwatching. In 2021 she returned to Vancouver to be closer to her children. She was a modern woman, who embraced strong principles and pursued a vision of the world that challenged the restrictive and ill-wrought societal constructs of her time.

Rosalie’s Celebration of Life will be held on April 29th at 11AM at the Steveston Buddhist Temple 4360 Garry Street, Richmond, BC, V7E 2V2.