Victoria Gwynneth Mary Patrick (1919-2015). Gwyn passed away peacefully at the Peace Arch Hospital in White Rock, BC at 12:30pm on Monday, August 10, 2015 after a brief illness. Born on July 12, 1919 in Cuddington, Northwich, Cheshire, Gwyn moved to her beloved London, England in 1926 where she would later meet the love of her life and future husband William Alexander Patrick who was serving with the 1st Canadian Survey Regiment during WWII. Gwyn emigrated to Canada in 1945 as a war bride, landing at Pier 21 in Halifax and travelling by train to Yorkton, SK. Gwyn was a trained soprano, a pianist, an amateur thespian and a stenographer and managed to find time to follow her passions while working full time and helping to raise a handful of children on Deer Park, the family farm in Yorkton. Prior to coming to Canada, she had worked as an assistant secretary at Timothy Whites and Taylors, the Ministry of Supply, Howard Wall and the War Arts Advisory Committee and Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts (the precursor of the Arts Council). A highlight was the year and a half that she worked as a stenographer for the Arts Enquiry under Julian Huxley and Friedl Rothschild at Dartington Hall near Totnes, Devon. In Yorkton, she worked at Parker and Quine before landing a job as traffic manager at CJGX where she also hosted her own radio show. She was a leading member of the Crosthwaite Choir and directed and produced many plays and musical events in England and Canada. Gwyn worked for several years in Yorkton and area as a social worker, a vocation that perfectly suited her temperament. She and her husband retired to Vancouver in 1985 and a few years after Bill's death, Gwyn moved to Â鶹´«Ã½AV Surrey where she continued to live independently, surrounded by the extended family of her loving son John and her devoted daughter-in-law and best friend Kathie. Gwyn was a voracious reader for her entire life and a wiz at crosswords. She greatly enjoyed the camaraderie of competitive bowling leagues in Yorkton and Vancouver, played a wicked game of bridge and was difficult to beat at scrabble although many of her family (children and grandchildren) tried. Gwyn was predeceased by her husband William Alexander Patrick, two infant children Christopher John Patrick and Noel Hugh Patrick, an infant brother Noel Scott Walton and her parents Herbert Walton and Sarah Jane Walton (Wasley). She leaves to mourn her passing and to celebrate her life, "kid brother" John Walton and his wife Joyce, as well as four children, Judith Sarah Chambers (Dennis), Joanna Patrick (Vladimir), John William Patrick (Kathie) and Jill Patrick. Gwyn is lovingly remembered by 14 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren and will be greatly missed by nephews, nieces, cousins, former in-laws and a host of friends.
