Vera Grant was known as the Dahlia lady. She loved Dahlias and had more than 1000 of them growing on her acreage in Nanoose. She generously provided them to her friends and neighbours for memorials, parties and weddings whenever there was a need.

Another thing that Vera was passionate about was Christmas. Each year she would decorate her three story house with multiple Christmas trees, each with a different theme or color. The yard would be decorated with sleds, reindeer, snowmen, miniature cottages and churches built by her husband. There was also a candy cane lane built of six foot candy canes leading up to the door. She would host a Christmas party each year for all of her friends and neighbours with lovely refreshments and a dinner plate sized round of homemade shortbread for each guest to take home.

She loved Golden Retrievers and always had a dog, her latest one a rescue dog that received the best of care and attention.

Vera had a long and happy marriage with the man of her dreams and had one son and two daughters. She experienced great sorrow when one of her daughters passed away from heart trouble at the age of 28. She also lost her son when he was in his forties. She eventually became a widow and grieved this loss of her soul mate.

Vera Grant

Vera was 94 at the time of her passing and still very much interested in life and her volunteer work. When Vera’s health worsened with age, she reluctantly sold her home and moved up to Courtenay to be closer to her remaining daughter. She rented a suite in an independent living facility and continued to grow plants and flowers on her patio as she loved to see things grow. She continued her volunteer work for OSRS as our telephone volunteer who called everyone once a month to get the numbers for our lunches out. She enjoyed chatting with our members and always took the time to ask how they were doing and provide comfort where she could. She continued this service right up until she went into hospital and passed away on June 7, 2019.

We were lucky to have this wonderful lady as our friend and mentor and I know that I speak for all of us when I mourn the loss of our Vera. She will be missed.

Submitted by Kathleen Falvai