Eleanor St. Clair Lloyd (nee Wallbridge)
Jan. 13, 1915 – Sept. 4, 2013
Our dear mum Eleanor passed away peacefully at home surrounded by family. Her strong spirit and kind and loving ways will be sorely missed by family and friends alike. Eleanor was born in Vancouver and spent many happy summers at the family cottage in Sechelt. It was there that she gained her lifelong love of swimming in the ocean, which she continued to do every summer until she was 96. Eleanor trained as a nurse, graduating from Toronto General Hospital in 1938. She worked at the Vancouver General Hospital before joining the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps in 1941, with the honorary rank of Lieutenant Nursing Sister. She and her sister Grace served together overseas during WWll in the 16th Canadian General Hospital Overseas Forces from 1942 – 1945. It was while she was in England that Eleanor married Lt.-Cmdr (Engineer) John F. Lloyd, also serving overseas with the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve.
Her service overseas was a formative time in her life and through the years Eleanor always kept in touch with her Nursing Sister friends, and hosted an annual reunion picnic for many years at her home on Saltspring Is.
Following the war Eleanor and John settled briefly in Colorado, then moved to Quebec where they lived in Beauharnois, Ville de Lery and Bedford before moving to Pickering ON and later Vancouver. During that time, Eleanor was busy raising their four children and making lifelong friends along the way. After retiring in 1973 Eleanor and John moved to Saltspring Is. where they spent many happy years in Vesuvius. For more than 25 years Eleanor volunteered in the extended care ward of the Lady Minto Hospital in Ganges. Eleanor and John were founding members of the Trail & Nature Club and hiked all over the island, as well as many places around the world in their travels. Eleanor spent her 89th birthday riding an elephant in Thailand.
Eleanor’s great loves in life were her family, friends, gardening, swimming, watching the birds and walking and hiking on her beloved island. She was known to many besides her own grandchildren as Granny, and her passing will be deeply felt by all who knew her. Eleanor was predeceased by her loving husband John, her sister Grace and brother Henry. She will always be in the hearts of her children Bruce, Grace (Huntly), Norah (David) and Kitty (Ian), and her granddaughters Kate (Tran), Elizabeth (Leigh and great-granddaughter Bree), Claire (Paul) and Frances.
A celebration of Eleanor’s life will be held 2:00pm Sat. October 12, 2013. Please contact the family for details. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in her memory to the Canadian Cancer Society or the BC Paraplegic Association.