March 24th , 1926 ~ October 24th , 2012
It is with great sadness that the family of Elsie Dawson report her passing after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Elsie is pre-deceased by her loving husband, Clifford Dawson; her son John (Ricky) Downs; brothers John, Bob, Dick, Phil, Dave and Ernie Lapp; sisters Rose Wylie, Beverly Lanyon, Pearl Kennedy, and Elizabeth Shewfelt. She is also predeceased by her son-in-law, Chum McLellan. Elsie is survived by her sisters Muriel Nadeau, Doreen Filliponi and Ruth March; her brother Allan Lapp; her daughter Sandra Pinter (grandsons Trevor, Shaw and Curtis Hanes), step-daughter Pam McLellan (granddaughter Leanna MacKenzie, grandson Scott McLellan), step-son Larry Dawson (grandsons Danny Dawson, Tyler Dawson and granddaughter Jobyna) numerous nieces and nephews, granddaughter, Michelle Sjoholm, granddaughter Georgia O’Brien and grandson Jim O’Brien; plus many other grand and great-grandchildren.
Elsie’s early life when she left Vancouver Island, after serving in the Second World War, was in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. She was trained initially as a Nurse’s Aid and took additional training in that field. She finally realized her life-long dream of returning to the Comox Valley in 1965, where she worked at the Cumberland General Hospital. She attended UBC to take dental assistant’s course in 1972 and worked for Dr. Bullen for many years in Comox. When Dr. Bullen retired, she was employed by the Health Unit and was one of a few who travelled all around the schools in the Comox Valley and to all points north teaching children proper dental hygiene.
Elsie also had a love of a travel, not only in Canada, but to Arizona, Texas, the Black Hills of North Dakota, plus Reno and Laughlin. She also made two trips to Seoul, S. Korea when her grandson, Trevor and his wife married and also when they had their son, Robert. Unfortunately, she was no longer able to withstand that long a trip when their daughter Mina was born.
She will be remembered for her love of family, her ability to always tell a happy story and for being loyal and generous friend to all who had the good luck to meet her.
The family wish to thank all of the staff on the first floor of St. Joseph’s Hospital for their very kind and exceptional nursing while she was a patient there.