Patricia Deborah Munro - After a brief but fierce battle against cancer, Trish Munro passed away peacefully at Cowichan District Hospital on Sunday 15 October. Trish is survived by her parents Don and Nancy (nee Wakelin), her sister Stephanie McAteer (Ian) and her beloved cat Kiaya.
Trish grew up in Duncan, graduating from Cowichan Senior Secondary. She played a number of team sports throughout her childhood and teen years, including softball, soccer and field hockey, and was on Cow High's Provincials-winning field hockey team in 1993. After a brief spell at Malaspina College in Nanaimo, she moved to Oyama, near Kelowna, in 1999, and then on to Calgary in 2001, where she worked and lived for 5 years.
Trish returned to her native province in 2006, moving back to Vancouver, and by mere chance joined the Cloverdale Paint family at their Winston Street store in Burnaby. Never having been one to stay in one job for long, Trish finally found her calling in the paint industry. Trish's intelligence, people skills, wit and drive very quickly moved her up the Cloverdale ranks, and after increasingly senior postings in North Vancouver, Surrey and White Rock, she moved back to the Island in 2013 following her promotion to Manager of Cloverdale's busy Nanaimo store.
The move to Nanaimo allowed Trish to indulge in some of her abiding passions - she bought an older home and proceeded to strategize, plan and shop, and began a wholesale renovation that brought the house from 1980s dumpiness to chic 21st century style. With her customary independence and can-do attitude, no project was too big or too daunting for Trish; if she wanted it done, she simply set about learning how to do it, and made it happen.
Trish will be achingly missed by those she leaves behind, who all mourn the loss of such a bright, perceptive, creative, determined and generous daughter, sister and friend at such a heartbreakingly young age.
A Celebration of Life is planned for Saturday 25 November between 1:30 and 4:30pm at St Peter's Hall, 5800 Church Road, Duncan, V9L 5M3.
In honour of Trish's love of colour, the family asks that those coming to the Celebration please wear something bright and fun, whether it's a small accessory or a whole outfit.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to your local hospice or palliative care organization.