Nancy (Nan) Coughlan

Nancy Coughlan passed away quietly at the Lady Minto Extended Care facility on June 11th 2012, she celebrated her 99th birthday on April 20.

Nan was born, Nancy Wooster in New Westminster in 1913. The pioneer Wooster family came to New West in 1898 The “Wooster’s” first settled in Canada in Grand Manan NB in 1799 and prior to that arrived in Salisbury Massachusetts from England in 1639.

Nancy’s father, Captain Wooster, owned and operated tug boats on the Fraser River in the early 1900’s. The home that he built there is now a designated heritage building. 

Nan and her brother Warren, and sisters Vera McGrath and Betty Fry (all deceased) enjoyed their summers in White Rock during their school years.  This is where Nan met Aubrey Beaumont, a Vancouver Firefighter, whom she later married in 1934 and became Nancy Beaumont.

Nan worked as a dress designer and pattern maker for Madame Runge in Vancouver and in later years as a Medical Secretary.  

Aubrey and Nancy were avid skiers, tennis players, swimmers and dancers. Together they built a ski cabin on Hollyburn Mountain in the 30s, a summer Cabin in Deep Cove and a new home in Vancouver in the 40s. Their time together was cut short by Aubrey’s untimely death in 1950. They had two boys William Beaumont (Edmonton) and Neal Beaumont (Salt Spring)

Nan began raising the two boys on her own until she became Nan Coughlan in 1956 when she married Keith Coughlan, also a Vancouver firefighter. The Coughlan and the Beaumont families relied on Nancy as their “rock and touch stone” for years to come.

Life with Keith was also an active one, the two were involved with the training and breeding of Labrador retrievers and they participated in many dog trials in Canada and the US, winning their fair share of trophies for their efforts. Nancy became a crack shot with her 20 gauge shotgun and on many occasions brought home her limit of pheasants.  

Nan was one of the original members of the Burnaby sketch club (now the Burnaby Artists Guild) where she found great pleasure in developing her skills as an artist. She was always able to view the world through an artist’s eye. She worked with oils, acrylics and pastels but found her greatest pleasure in water-colours.

She also embraced new technology and loved the computer for her armchair travel and continued education. Her email contacts throughout North America kept her in touch with friends and family.

Keith passed away in 1991 and Nan was once again on her own and at 78 she moved to Salt Spring Island. Nan loved Salt Spring; it provided her with a wealth of visual beauty and inspirations to develop her painting and photography skills.

She joined most of the senior’s activities and enjoyed the camaraderie and established many wonderful friendships on Salt Spring over the next 21 years. She was blessed with good health and a strong mind throughout 98 years of her life.

Nan will be sadly missed by many; she has been an inspiration to her children, and step children and their extended families.

A special Thank You to the Staff and Volunteers at the Lady Minto Facility for their kindness and consideration during Nan’s stay.

  Nancy was cremated in Victoria last Friday and there will be no service by request.

“In a world that demands so much of you, take a little time to be kind to yourself.” 

Charlotte Wypkema

Devoted, loving wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother, passed away June 3, 2012.  Pre-deceased by husband John in 2000.  She will be greatly missed by her children:  Christa, Maria, Zensho, Peter, Tony, Ingrid and nephew Walter.  Caring grandmother of Shea, Laurel, Emily and great grandmother of Charlotte.  A lady of many accomplishments, Charlotte had a great capacity for lasting and generous friendships.  She leaves a legacy of love, care and precious memories. A celebration of her life will be held on Sunday, June 10 on Salt Spring Island.  Memorial donations may be made to the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

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Cordula Doris Vogt

(Nowrath)

March 3, 1955 – May 28, 2012

Cordula died peacefully on May 28th, 2012. She spent her last months the way she lived, surrounded by family, friends, flowers and music. Her lengthy illness did not diminish her joy in life or her concern for others.

Cordula loved the West Coast. She swam and kayaked in the ocean, skied in the mountains and hiked in the forests. Her curiosity led her to travel the world and learn many languages. When her beloved husband, Andreas, died, she established the Andreas Vogt Nature Reserve on Salt Spring Island.

Cordula was a devoted practitioner and teacher of yoga. She had a talent for working with specialized groups, including adults with disabilities and new mothers. She loved gardening and singing with the Women of Note choir.

Cordula was a loving and caring mother, daughter, sister, aunt, cousin and friend. She will be forever missed by her children Kai and Svea, parents Horst and Oda Nowrath, sister Gwen (Philip), brother Bernard (Wendy), and parents-in-law Helmut and Irmgard Vogt.

Her family would like to thank the wonderful staff at Lady Minto Hospital. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to the Lady Minto Foundation. A celebration of her life will be held on Sunday, June 3 from 2-4 at 260 Mountain View Drive, Salt Spring Island.

Namaste om, Cordula

Ralph Pred

July 9, 1939 – May 15, 2012

Ralph Pred passed away, unexpectedly and without suffering, Tuesday, May 15, in the presence of his wife.

A philosopher, scholar, activist, author, and community organizer, his was a life of books, deep listening, thoughtful conversation, and mindful walking among the flowers, trees and birds. Kind, careful and gentle, yet not afraid to stand for what he knew to be right, Ralph was a private man who is dearly missed by his family and all who knew and loved him.

Born in the Bronx in 1939, influenced by his father’s linguistic skills, his mother’s musicianship, and the death of a great aunt in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, Ralph set upon a path of social justice and life-long learning. After attending Bronx Science High School, Ralph’s passion for illuminating the mysteries of experience led to studies at Antioch, NYU, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Driven by his underlying devotion to the potential of humanity and a better future for generations, Ralph took a break from university studies to work in numerous community organization initiatives, notably as director of poverty programs in Boston and Cape Cod, and spent several summers as counsellor, then director of a children’s summer camp in Massachusetts.

Ralph returned to school in 1975, earning a masters degree at San Francisco State, and later, a PhD in Philosophy from UC Berkeley. His thesis contained the seeds of his later independent scholarship, where his enduring alignment with the work of Alfred North Whitehead and William James would bloom.

In 1990, Ralph relocated from Berkeley to the south end of Salt Spring Island with his wife Mallory, and their son, Noah. During this period he worked variously as a consultant and technical writer for PARC and EPRI. Over the years, Ralph made many contributions to the local community; his reverence for Gulf Island ecology and its natural beauty lead to his active engagement in preservation of the island’s habitat, inhabitants and culture.

The culmination of decades of scholarship, study and rigorous observation, Ralph’s book Onflow: Dynamics of Consciousness and Experience – his treatise on an unbroken, process-oriented account of experience – was published by MIT Press in 2005.

A lover of nature, music and the arts, he could often be found hiking the wilderness of the south end, finding minute wildflowers through every flowing path of his beloved hills. Practicing astronomy, absorbing poetry, playing basketball, listening to jazz, backpacking in the wild, engaging with children, and revelling late into the night with friends, Ralph’s interests were wide-ranging and expansive. Mallory’s drumming and Noah’s development as musician, DJ and composer brought him particular joy, and his enthusiastic dancing will be fondly remembered.

Ralph leaves behind his loving wife of 38 years, his son, and a large extended family in Berkeley and New York, including his stepson Martin Jones and wife Suzanne, his sister Suzanne Pred Bass and brother-in-law Lane Bass, his sisters-in-law Linda and Hjordis, nieces Michele, Emily, Becky, and Willa, nephews Joseph and Tobias, grand-nieces Linnea and Emma, and his grand-nephew Sebastian. Ralph’s brother Allan, with whom he was very close in thought and feeling, passed before him in 2007.

With an open, generous heart and inquisitive mind, Ralph’s connections were deep and true. Onflowing, ever-changing, he joins the infinite.

Ralph’s family invites you to join them on Sunday, June 3, 4PM at Beaver Point Hall, for a celebration of his life and a potluck feast.

You ask

why I perch

on a jade green mountain?

I laugh

but say nothing

my heart

free

like a peach blossom

in the flowing stream

going by

in another world

not among men

– Li Po