Obituary of Marion Alice Greenwood

Greenwood - Marion Alice, suddenly passed away on May 26, 2016 in Sarnia, Ontario at the age of 72. Marion is survived by her devoted husband Charles (Len) Greenwood of Surrey; her little sister Phyllis Carter (Larry) of Squamish, B.C and her big brother Scott Ritchie (Dianne) of Ottawa; her loving children, son Carl Greenwood and twin grandchildren Ben and Olun Greenwood and a step-grandchild, Paige Greenwood, all of Surrey, and daughter Jennifer Haskins (Geoff) and grandchildren Colin & Adara Haskins of Corunna, Ontario. She is predeceased by her parents Sydney & Annie Ritchie, as well as her sister Dawn Ritchie-Legge (Ivan). Marion Greenwood (ne Ritchie) was born in Cornwall, Ontario on 13 July 1943. She attended high school at Cornwall Collegiate & Vocational School (CCVS) and graduated in 1961 with Grade 13. She attended the Kingston General School of Nursing where she obtained her RN in 1964. She was married on a warm, sunny day on November 14, 1964 in Cornwall, Ontario at the First Baptist Church to Charles (Len) Greenwood (an RMC graduate who she met in Kingston while doing her nursing RN). She moved often in the first few years, her husband Len being a pilot in the RCAF. From 1964 to 1965 she worked at the Regina General Hospital (Surgery) in Regina, Providence General Hospital (Medicine) in Moose Jaw, and the Portage General Hospital (Surgery) at Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. From 1965 to 1967 she worked at the Misericordia Hospital (Surgery) in Winnipeg. She earned her Certificate in Public Health in 1968 from the University of Manitoba and then was employed by the Department of Health, Manitoba as a Public Health Nurse from 1968 to 1971. She completed her Bachelor Degree at the University of Manitoba, graduating in 1971. She joined the Faculty of Nursing at the then Red River Community College in Winnipeg teaching there from 1971 to 1974 in Medical-Surgical and Maternity. In 1974 she moved to Brisbane, Australia with her husband Len, her daughter Jennifer (7 months old), and her son Carl (3 1/2 years old). She worked at the Mater Misericordia Hospital in Brisbane from 1974 to 1976 as the In-Service Education Coordinator for the Nursing Department. She was appointed as a member of a Task Force for the Development of Nursing in Queensland, Australia. In 1976 she returned to Canada and joined the Nursing Faculty at Cariboo College in Kamloops BC, teaching there from 1976 to 1979. In 1979 she moved to Vancouver and joined the staff of the now College of Registered Nursing Association of BC and worked as a professional Conduct Review Officer and a Career Counsellor and Member of Affairs Advisor until 1983. She completed her Master Degree at Simon Fraser in 1984 doing her thesis on "General Duty and the Older Nurse". She then joined the staff of Douglas College in New Westminster where she taught both classroom and clinical nursing (primarily surgical) until her retirement in 2003. At Douglas, in addition to teaching she served on the Douglas College Faculty Association as Vice President/Grievances , a role which was suited to her ability to see all sides of an issue. During the Surrey civic elections of 1990, she ran for City Council and was narrowly defeated by the incumbent. She continued her interest in politics for a few years helping some MLAs in the provincial election campaigns. Marion had a love of life. She enjoyed travel with her husband and children, travelling all over North America in the family plane , taking every opportunity to visit friends and family coast to coast. She took a number of trips to Europe, China, and Australia. But she especially enjoyed those trips with the grandchildren on cruises or to places like Disney World, and was looking forward to her trip to Italy this coming August with her husband and two grandsons. She was also active with her husband, sailing their sail boat "ODEN II" throughout the Gulf Islands especially with the McGregor Boat Club. She admitted, however, that with her ability, no one would likely hire her on as crew. She was an avid reader, reading hundreds and hundreds of books. She kept a list with notes on each one so, she said, that when she got old and forgetful it would save her from unnecessarily reading them again. She was a member of a close-knit circle of friends in a book club and took pleasure over the years meeting once a month to discuss the latest selection. However, she always found time to keep fit, doing aerobics and walking everyday and emphasized eating healthy. She always maintained, that in order to help others, you have to look after yourself. She was devoted to her family, especially her grandchildren, but she always found time to care for others in need. In her retirement years she spent many hours volunteering with the Surrey Seniors Center where she would care for individual elderly people who were in need of special assistance, living on their own. She was an organ donor with the Trillium Gift of Life Network and encouraged all those around her to do the same. On her death, her organs saved three people with terminal medical conditions (one successful liver, and two separate successful kidney transplants) and both her eyes were successfully transplanted, restoring the sight of blind patients. She believed that you have a successful life if you can help others and leave this world a better place than when you came into it. She will always be in our memories. Messages of condolence & memories may be left at www.mckenzieblundy.com SERVICE IN SURREY, BRITISH COLUMBIA A "Celebration of Life" Service will be held at: 1:00 PM on Saturday, 23 July 2016 Victory Memorial Park Funeral Centre 14831 28th Ave Surrey, British Columbia RECEPTION A reception will follow in the Tearoom Downstairs. Interment of her cremated remains will be set at a later date. LIVE STREAMING The Service will be live streamed at 1:00 PM with the URL address as follows: http://www.livememorialservices.com/ServiceDetail.aspx?id=4303 MEMORIAL TREE NEAR SARNIA ONTARIO A Memorial Tree in the memory of Marion Greenwood will be planted in the McKenzie & Blundy Memorial Forest in the Perch Creek Habitat Area, near Sarnia, Ontario.