Nancy Gayle Kennedy

Our beautiful friend Nancy Gayle Kennedy passed away in the early hours of the morning, Tuesday October 14th, at the Vancouver Hospice Society hospice on Granville Street, in Shaughnessy. Born and raised in Alberta, Nancy loved living in BC, near the ocean, where she stayed for the remainder of her life.

Nancy was diagnosed with advanced endometrial cancer shortly after retiring and moving to Victoria. She made the difficult decision to move back to Vancouver (via Langley) so she could be closer to the Cancer Agency and her close care givers.

The last few months were increasingly challenging, and Nancy moved into hospice on Monday October 6th. She was somewhat stable at this point, but her decline was so rapid that within the week Nancy was too sick to reach out to friends.

Nancy had many wonderful professional caregivers, and she appreciated the compassionate and respectful care she received from them throughout her illness, and the partnerships they formed.

We would like to thank Nancy’s primary doctors, Alison Macinnes, and Corrine Maurice-Dror. As well, the nurses and volunteer drivers at the BC Cancer Agency, the VGH ER physicians and staff, the Hospital at Home staff, especially Dr. Pi, the Palliative care nurses and social worker, Thekra and Sharri, Kerrisdale Pharmacy, and the SMOKE SHOW EMTs who burst into Nancy’s apartment like something from a hot reality show when we had to call 911.

It is very hard to measure our feelings of loss, or to characterize Nancy in words, but she was no-nonsense, inspiring, tenacious, bright, and totally captivating. She was an entrepreneur, pet lover, and pet mom to Topper and Roo. She was close to her cousins, and her friends were like family.

Nancy, we are grateful to you for enriching our lives. We will remember you always and will miss you dearly. As one special friend said, “I am holding your hand in my heart”.

There are Stars

There are stars up above,

so far away we only see their light

long, long after the star itself is gone.

So it is with people that we loved -

their memories keep shining ever brightly,

though their time with us is done.

But the stars that light up the darkest night,

these are the lights that guide us.

As we live our days, these are the ways we remember.