Shirley Vida (née Dalton)
April 17, 1924 – March 23, 2016
Pre-deceased by husband Peter (November 2015) and son Mark (May 1954), Shirley died peacefully last week on Salt Spring Island.
The youngest of three sisters, she was born and schooled in Harrow-on-the-Hill, London, England. After the outbreak of WWII, she spent happy years of evacuation in Aberystwyth, Wales as a University of London student. She graduated with a degree in English Literature and went on to obtain a Master of Social Work from the London School of Economics.
She and Peter emigrated to Montreal and then to Vancouver, where she worked in various hospital and therapeutic settings as a social worker, researcher, and administrator. She loved her career and its challenges: running a foster home for boys in Montreal, and a YWCA hostel for young street women in downtown Vancouver. She was active in the Girl Guides, loved singing, fine knitting and embroidery, reading and travelling. She and Peter travelled far and wide, and sailed extensively in the coastal waters of BC.
On retirement to Salt Spring she became an active member of the Community Society Board and the SS Singers; later in Victoria, she was a docent at the Royal Columbia Museum and a trainer with Volunteer Victoria. Shirley spent her last days in the gracious care of the Residential Unit staff at Lady Minto Hospital.
Shirley is survived by her sister Marion, children Alison and Drew, grandchildren Naomi Jason and Michael Vida, who will all miss her. A funeral service is planned for Wednesday, March 30, 2pm, at the Royal Oak Burial Park Chapel. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Lady Minto Hospital Foundation.