June 8, 1925 - September 17, 2022
In Loving Memory ~
On September 17th, 2022 we said goodbye to our beautiful mother, grandmother and great-grandmother June Doreen Wickman. At 97 years she was the oldest living descendant of the Yeatman family who settled on Quadra Island in 1896. The Yeatman family is recognized as one of the first pioneering families of the area.
Born in Vancouver, Doreen was raised on Quadra Island. At the age of 18 she began work for BC Telephone in a small house located where the Campbell River TELUS building sits today. Wherever she lived be it Sechelt, Dawson Creek, Nanaimo, Quadra Island or Campbell River she continued to work while raising her family... her first priority.
Mum loved her family immensely and was a devoted mother and the best grandmother and great-grandmother one could ever have... not only to our family but to our friends as well. She was always there for us and no matter what we needed we could count on her.
She saw only the good in others and her glass was definitely half full. Mum was extremely proud of her family, never ceasing to marvel at their accomplishments. She truly had a way of making each one of us feel special.
Mum had a love of nature that was instilled in her at a very young age, as she and her sisters grew up in Gowlland Harbour surrounded by the woods and the ocean. This led to her love of gardening which became her passion as an adult.
She was a wealth of information and always had time to share her knowledge with family and friends. Her garden was indeed her Earthly Paradise.
Over the years Mum's love of animals led to her welcoming a multitude of pets into her home, often taking over their care from others.
Doreen was predeceased by her loving husband Art Wickman, her parents Robert and Margaret Yeatman, sisters Lorraine Idiens and Margaret Tuddenham, brothers-in-law Ted Idiens and Stan Tuddenham, son-in-law Jerry Mergaert, nephews Harry and Richard Idiens and niece Teresa Tuddenham.
She is survived by daughters Bonnie Fair (Norman) and Corinne Mergaert, son Glenn Mills (Mandy) and grandchildren Kenna Fair (Leanne), Graham Fair (Doreen), Quinn Fair (Jessica), Tanza Davies (Shaun), Chad Mergaert (Leah), Brycon Mills, Ashley Zylstra, Dustin Corlett, Natalie Clark (Casey) and 18 great grandchildren.
A very special thank you to Dr. Rob Sutherland and the dedicated staff at Discovery Harbour Care Centre, her home for the past five years.
She will be dearly missed, always loved, never forgotten and forever in our hearts as she now rests in her Heavenly Paradise.
A memorial service will be held on Quadra Island in the summer of 2023 when Doreen's ashes will be interred alongside family members.
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