Silvana Ester Carr (née Minuto) passed away peacefully on January 18, 2021 in the Vancouver Hospice after a year-long struggle with Stage 4 cancer. She will be lovingly remembered by Derek, her husband of 50 years; their children Kate and Paul; daughter-in-law Jackie; wonderful grandson Joseph; relatives in Italy and England; and countless friends and former colleagues in Canada and elsewhere.
Born in Alba, Italy, to Paolo and Rina Minuto, Silvana spent part of her childhood in Córdoba, Argentina before the family moved to Vancouver in the early 1950s. Graduating from Our Lady of Perpetual Help High School, she went on to the University of British Columbia (UBC), completing her B.A. with Honours in Romance Studies in 1965 and her Ph.D. in 1978. Silvana taught both Italian and Spanish as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at UBC and was a Sessional Lecturer in Italian from 1978 to1989. She then enjoyed a long and satisfying career as Coordinator of the internationally-recognized and award-winning Court, Medical and Community Interpreting Program at Vancouver Community College. She retired in 2009. Silvana was also much involved with the UBC Faculty Women's Club, the Catholic Women's League, and other church-related activities.
A private Requiem Mass will be celebrated at Our Lady of Perpetual Help church in Vancouver on Wednesday, January 27, 2021 at 11:00 a.m., with Fr. Babu Mathew as celebrant. Interment will follow at the Gardens of Gethsemani in Surrey. A Celebration of Life will be scheduled for a later date after COVID-related restrictions are lifted.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to either the BC Cancer Foundation or the Vancouver Hospice Society in recognition of all the care and support Silvana received from them.