Rebecca Louise Swan, age 52, died around September 7, 2014. Rebecca died unexpectedly at home after a long battle with alcoholism.
Bec was born in Cardiff, Wales on June 10, 1962 to Doris Wilkinson Springett and Owen Llewellyn Springett. She was the fifth of five children. Bec grew up in West Wales in a country home near Cardigan. She was a solid student and a keen athlete in her youth, playing on the Provincial grass hockey team and developing her squash game.
Bec emigrated to Canada in 1981 to work as an au pair. She was initially situated in Port Alberni but then relocated to Victoria working for Myrtle Perry caring for three disabled children; Peter, John and Cameron. In 1983 she married Michael Swan and gave birth to Emma in 1985 and Alec in 1988. Her marriage to Mike ended in 1990 and she gave birth to Joseph with her new partner, Don Fockler, in 1996.
Bec was a passionate, spirited woman who’s love for life and incandescent sparkle touched each and every sphere of her life. She was a passionate mother to her children - nurturing them with her many strengths and skills with patience and focus - providing security, support and understanding, while enriching their development with creativity and depth.
Bec was a passionate partner to Don, whose nickname for her was ‘Sunshine’ - with her bright blonde hair, her sparkling eyes and her warm radiant smile. She was generous and sharing, playful and loving, and forever planning the next project, the next adventure or the next big trip with her lively imagination and her creative expression.
She also had a passionate connection with Nature - her inspiration, her life meaning and her order - a place of space, tranquility, inspiration and awe. She was always refreshed by walks with Cohen, her dear, gentle dog, imbibing Nature in the NE woods or energized by one of her many hikes up the Comox Glacier drinking in the panorama of the surrounding peaks and the dazzling glacier lakes.
Bec was also passionate about her fitness and sports. She was well known in the Valley as a challenging aerobics instructor and many members of the squash club remember her relentless drive to keep a rally going, and her mastery of precision to ‘put’ a shot away.
Bec was also passionate with her friends - engaging them with intensity, loyalty and commitment. She was an amazing cook with no limit as to what she could create and serve to her friends at the many gatherings she hosted serving numerous exquisite taste sensations that she had created.
She was no less passionate following her chosen career path in nursing - excelling at her studies to become a nurse, and then working as a skilled and compassionate palliative care nurse sensitive and responsive to the needs of her patients and her patients’ families.
She was predeceased by her father, Owen. With those who are left, there is a deep heartbreak mourning her passing - ‘Wilkie’ her mother, Ruthie, Mandy and Tammy, her sisters, Simon her brother, Mike her ex and Don her partner and her children, Emma, Alec and Joseph. She will be deeply missed.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Comox Valley Hospice Society.
A celebration of her life will be held at 1:00PM, on Sunday September 21st, 2014 at the Filberg House in Comox. Anyone who felt touched in any way by this beautiful woman is welcome.