Helen passed away on April 19, 2018 at 3:30 PM after a hard battle with cancer. After many challenging months in hospital, Helen got her wish to come home, the place she loved so much. Her passing was peaceful in the presence of her favourite nieces and a trusted friend.
The youngest of five girls, Helen was born in 1932 in Vancouver General Hospital and spent her first 5 years in Burnaby, starting Grade 1 in Kingsway West School. The family moved to a farm in West Langley where she attended a 2 room school for the next 7 years. The family then relocated to Milner where she attended Langley High School for the next 4 years. She loved spending her high school summers in Oliver picking fruit and working in packing houses.
Following high school graduation, Helen did nursing training at Royal Columbia Hospital from January 1951 to February 1954. She married her sweet heart Robert (Bob) Tara on December 21, 1954 and lived in Ladner for the next 13 years where sons Ken and David were born. She helped design, build and decorate several of the family homes including the one called Waters Edge where she lived for the last 28 years.
The family moved to Salt Spring Island in 1968 where they settled in Fulford Harbour. After trying out careers ranging from nursing to Avon Lady to bartender, Helen went back to school and completed a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1983. Helen gave nursing another go but settled on running a B&B for 12 years where she could meet travellers from near and far.
She travelled around BC and the west coast of North America via camper when the boys were young and, after 40, travelled to many countries, something she dreamed of since her teenage years.
Helen loved animals be they dogs, cows or sheep, and loved watching birds and boats. On the creative side, she loved sewing, knitting, wood carving and painting. She also loved gardening, walking, Yoga and learning.
Helen has gone on to meet Bob "Just Beyond the Moon". She will be missed by her family leaving behind her oldest son Ken, wife Shannon and their children Cole, Kaden, Jada and Tia, Ken's grown daughter Jessica. Her youngest son David, wife Joanie and their son Kalen.
A Celebration of Life will be held on Wednesday, June 6 from 1:00 to 3:00 PM at the Royal Canadian Legion at 120 Blain Road, Salt Spring Island, B.C.
In lieu of flowers, Helen asked that memorial donations be made to the Fulford Hall on Salt Spring (www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/fulford-community-hall-association