August 10, 1934 - July 15, 2024
In loving memory ~
A life of high adventure for a longtime resident of the Comox Valley ended at a time of her choosing on Monday, July 15, 2024. Born in Vancouver August 10, 1934 to John and Marjorie Brice, Ann Gardam leaves to mourn her passing, Roger, her husband of 62 years, sister Hope and brother-in-law Rick of Orlando Florida, daughter Fiona and her husband Fred Ford, son John, and three exceptional grandchildren, twins Marissa and Jenaya and grandson Eric.
Ann was educated at Crofton House in Vancouver and went on to UBC to earn a BA degree in Bacteriology. She worked for two years at Vancouver General Hospital before succumbing to the urge to travel. Always the contrarian, she decided to complete a world tour, heading west by sea on the Princess Line from Vancouver.
Hawaii and Hong Kong behind her, she landed in Singapore and decided to stay a while with an old friend from UBC who was residing there. Here she met her future husband Roger, an Englishman who was employed by the Hong Kong Bank. A short visit became a three-year sojourn until her visa expired. Roger was posted from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur and Ann returned to Vancouver to plan their wedding. Ann and Roger were married in Kerrisdale, Vancouver in September 1962. Following an eight-month leave travelling North America and Europe, Ann and Roger took up residence in Hong Kong for their next four-year tour with the Bank. It was during this time that Fiona and John were born two years apart at Matilda Hospital on the Peak.
In 1967, Roger and Ann settled in Vancouver with their two young children while Roger assisted with setting up the fledgling Bank of BC. More adventures lay in store when Ann and Roger purchased property in Comox and opened a business known as Butcher Road Nurseries. For the next 25 years, together they grew high quality bedding plants and tomatoes in their extensive greenhouses with Ann directing most of the on-site operation.
Eventual retirement in 1990 allowed Ann to devote more time to her lifelong interests, downhill skiing, golf, trips to Hawaii and annual post-Christmas family trips to Harrison Hot Springs. Her family and her dogs were the source of Ann's greatest pleasure. Bruce and Coco were our most recent canine companions and popular members of our local community.
Through FaceTime calls, Ann kept in daily contact with her family. Daughter Fiona's wedding to Fred in our back garden on May 18th with a salute by the Snowbirds overhead at 3:00 p.m. precisely, as vows were being exchanged, provided the ultimate highlight to the end of a long and extraordinary life.
Our everlasting thanks are owed to our medical team of doctors and community nurses, occupational therapists and care aides who made every effort to enable Ann to spend her last months at home in Courtenay. No service is planned, but Ann and her family would appreciate any donations made to the Canadian Red Cross in Courtenay.
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