1939 - 2010
Winnie died suddenly on April 1, 2010 after a brief battle with an aggressive cancer. Winnie was born in Hong Kong and is predeceased by her parents and only sibling Dr. Henry Wai. Winnie spent the first thirty years of her life in the apartment where she was born. She survived the Japanese occupation, graduated from Diocesan Girls’ School and was educated as a teacher at Grantham College. In her first year of teaching she met eight colleagues who became lifelong friends. In 1970, Winnie emigrated to Toronto where she did community service work and continued her enthusiastic involvement in folk dancing. She came to Vancouver in 1980 where she met her husband Edward in a peace march. They were married in 1982 following a six-week whirlwind courtship. Winnie and Ed’s life together was filled with love and laughter and included a passion for scrabble, extensive travel, work in Nicaragua with Tools for Peace and Life on Hornby Island and in Courtenay. Winnie was an ardent socialist and activist who never veered from her principles. Winnie is survived by her devastated husband Edward. When Winnie made a friend, she made a friend for life. Her friends and family members in Canada, Hong Kong and China are mourning her premature passing.
“And did you get what you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved and to feel myself beloved on the earth.”
— Raymond Carver
By Winnie’s request, no service will be held at this time.
A celebration of her life will be held at a later date.