‘Tea and Trees’ Celebration of Life
Mary Christina Brown had a heart as big as the trees she helped save on the Riverview lands in Coquitlam.
Her passion for nature prompted her to join The Riverview Horticultural Centre Society (RHCS), with its mission to preserve and protect the lands and trees on the former BC’s Essondale psychopathic hospital site. This made Serenity Garden on Riverview grounds a fitting location to gather for afternoon tea in her memory on Sunday, August 14.
Some who came to tea had also joined the organized Tree Walk – a guided RHCS tour that takes place approximately once a month during appropriate seasons.
A long-standing and faithful parishioner of St. James, Mary (pre-deceased by husband Ian in January 2018) had travelled to family in Sechelt for Christmas. She attended the Christmas Eve Carol Service at St. Hilda’s, where her sister Margaret Scott was singing in the choir. She sat with her niece Kat Roussos, received Communion and sang all the carols by heart. Mary collapsed outside the church and died in Sechelt Hospital, aged 87 years.
Mary held a wide variety of roles at St. James. She was elected a parish trustee in 1971-72, was a long-time member of the ACW serving as corresponding secretary 2003-04, a supporter of the Street Outreach Downtown Eastside Initiative and Rev. Fr. Matthew Johnson, and a volunteer and then member of the Board of Directors of St. James Community Services Society (SJCSS) -- formed in 1961 and renamed The Bloom Group in 2013.
At her Requiem Mass in St. James, February 18, Fr. Matthew could not have paid Mary higher praise than when he said: “Finding words of appreciation is not at all difficult to do when a person is as genuine and as authentic as Mary Brown.”
Fr. Matthew’s Homily went on to summarize her life:
“An Englishwoman by birth, Mary served as a midwife in the UK before emigrating to Canada, and ultimately Vancouver, were she completed a nursing degree, specializing in public health. Midwifery and nursing were both natural vocations for a woman who was prepared to work good and hard for the welfare of others and for causes in which she believed. Together with her husband Ian they made a life for themselves in nearby Coquitlam.
Mary’s life of service to others was not limited to nursing, for over the years she undertook the work of numerous worthwhile projects. She was instrumental in establishing Vancouver’s first stand-alone hospice, and through SJCSS took a special interest in Victory House (a community supporting vulnerable adults with special needs).
Her love of nature was the stimulus of her out-of-doors activity and led to her part in a powerful campaign to save a remarkable collection of distinct trees at Riverview. She also worked with Burke Mountain Naturalists to protect wild habitat, and at certain times could be found at Colony Farm Bird Count. Mary was profoundly conscious of an on-going, living relationship with her Creator and she touched many lives with just that: God’s love at work through her.”
She was recipient of the Sovereign’s Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977, and was invested into The Order of the Diocese of New Westminster (ODNW) in 2011.
IMAGES
- Mary’s family – Kat Roussos, Margaret Scott and Emma Taylor – with the Venerable Fr. Kevin Hunt
- Co-hostess Kat Roussos helps serve afternoon savouries
- Great-niece Emma Taylor follows her Mom with variety of sandwiches
- Mary C. Brown Photo Submitted
- (In the body copy) Mary Brown, November 2011 invested into the ODNW Photo: Wayne Chose.
Photos by Elizabeth Murray except where noted