STEWART, LaVerne Hazel
Dec. 16, 1924 - June 19, 2015
Born in Seattle, Wa., LaVerne passed away in the palliative care unit at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. Predeceased by her son Norman, parents and brother and sister, she leaves behind Jack, her husband of 71 years, son John and numerous nieces and nephews.
LaVerne was adopted by Frank and Winifred Cannon at four weeks old, growing up on Waddington Road and attending school at Brechin Elementary and St. Ann’s Convent on Wallace Street. Living in what was considered then north Nanaimo, LeVerne and her friends would hitch a ride to downtown by rail when the conductor of a daily train would stop near Waddington to give the teens a ride.
Life would change forever for 19-year old LaVerne when she met Jack, home on leave from the Royal Canadian Air Force. The pair married Aug. 28, 1943, and lived in Cumberland where Jack was stationed. They moved to Nanaimo at the end of the Second World War and built their forever family home on Third Street in 1947.
An avid gardener, baker and knitter, LaVerne shared with Jack a love of camping, tenting all across Vancouver Island and B.C.’s Interior with family and friends. Upgrading to a trailer in 1965, the Stewart’s travelled North America, visiting everywhere from Florida and the southern tip of the Baja peninsula in Mexico to the end of the road in northern Alaska. In later years, they flew to China, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, South America and South Africa, and still found time to make a road trip to California twice a year to visit LaVerne’s relations.
The family sends a sincere thank you to the wonderful staff in emergency, fourth floor and palliative care units at NRGH. A tea will be held in LaVerne’s memory at a later date.