Sharen Edwards

Sharen Edwards nee McLelland was born in West Vancouver on December 15, 1926 and passed away peacefully in Vancouver at the Louis Brier Home and Hospital on October 18, 2026, just short of her 100th birthday. Mum was born to British-Canadian parents who named her Marjorie Gordon McLelland. Later in life she chose to change her name to Sharen. Mum attended Pauline Johnson Elementary School in West Van and then following a move to Vancouver, graduated from Lord Byng High School in 1945. She was a top notch student, winning many academic awards.

Our Mum was vibrant, creative, brilliant and beautiful. She lived life to the fullest, always looking fabulous and doing everything with her own sense of vivacious style. As our Dad, H. Claude Edwards, would say, “You look like a million bucks!”

Mum and Dad loved to travel. Whether they were off to Hawaii, Mexico, the UK, Europe, Asia, Africa, the South Pacific, or travelling North America in their motorhome, towing either a car or boat, they were fearless, savoring every minute of their adventures.

Mum and Dad’s passion for spending time in “the great outdoors” led to Mum’s award winning love affair with nature photography. Mum could tell you the name of just about every flower and plant you could find on our many hikes, camping trips and cross country skiing expeditions. She never went anywhere without her camera equipment, all of which was cutting-edge Japanese equipment, which was revolutionary at the time, and she had her own darkroom where she did all of her own developing.

Sharen loved to sing. When we went on long driving trips we would spend hours singing together to pass the time. Mum and Dad were beautiful ballroom dancers and in particular loved the music of the big band era and of course Frank Sinatra and all of his contemporaries. Their absolutely favourite song to dance to was Moon River.

Sharen liked speed. In 1967 Dad surprised her with the gift of a baby blue Ford Mustang sports car. It had six cylinders and when you stepped on the accelerator pedal the whole front end would lift up. She loved that car!

Mum and Dad settled in Richmond, B.C., ultimately building one of the first homes in Sunnymede, the first subdivision in Richmond. Dad’s business territory stretched from Richmond, the Lower Mainland and through to the Fraser Valley. Our home was always full or friends and fun, especially in our Hawaiian Lanai room added to the back of our house, where one of the first whirlpools in the city was installed.

While Mum never fulfilled her dream of becoming a doctor, she did a lot of health related work. Mum was involved in starting the Richmond General Hospital Auxiliary when the hospital was first built and also spent years travelling round the province assisting an allergy doctor with allergy testing in rural and remote areas.

Mum always worked hard to support the dreams and accomplishments of her two daughters, Claudia and Laura. Both daughters enjoyed performing in local musical theatre productions and Laura, who was a very accomplished singer and performer was encouraged to audition and join the world renowned Elgar Choir, which ultimately led to Laura performing as a soloist across Europe at the tender age of 11. Mum always emphasized the importance of women attending university and ensuring that no matter what happened in life, we must always be able to support ourselves and any children we might have. Sharen was a true feminist, as usual, ahead of her time.

Sharen loved all of her grandchildren and great grandchildren. She was always imaginative and playful. She loved to spin bedtime tales calling them Magic Carpet stories. Each story was an original and always wove the grandchild into the story. Claude and Sharen loved to sit around the campfire and sing songs and tell endless jokes. Both Mum and Dad had wonderful senses of humour. They loved dogs and their dog Toger always had her own lawn chair for the campfires.

As Mum began to slow down she moved into Chalmers Lodge for Assisted Living and then to the Louis Brier for her final years. Mum was an active participant in all of the activities in the Brier and especially enjoyed the afternoon dance parties, which she shared with Dad when he was a resident at the Louis Brier. Mum also loved her visits with Laura and her dog Betsy, while Claudia spent the last six years, during and after Covid, visiting Mum at the front entrance sitting area, with the help of Mum’s companion Cathy Santiago.

All of the companions at the Brier were absolutely wonderful. Mum loved them and trusted them. Once Mum was placed into Comfort Care protocol at the Brier, she was supported in her final three days by Claudia, Laura and her granddaughter Rachel, her special companion, Cathy Santiago and all of the companions and staff at the Brier. Mum’s room was filled with love and respect. It is not possible to thank the staff and companions enough for the loving care that Mum was given until her end of life. We will always remember all of the extraordinary help we were given to help Mum ease her way into her passing. While she had a long and difficult struggle, her passing was made easier because of the wonderful care she was given. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Mum will be truly missed. I hope Claude and Sharen are in the heavenly form of Loon Lake, Mum sipping her ice cold Chardonnay and Dad sipping his Manhattan. It was always one of their most favourite places to be together while enjoying the natural beauty of British Columbia. Love, Laura Edwards and Claudia Goldman