Gladys Porcher

Gladys Porcher was born 1927 in Bentley, Alberta, south of Edmonton; the eighth of twelve children born to Jacob and Katherine. She passed August 2022 at the age of 95.

She was raised on a grain and cattle farm, and attended the one-room Outlet School, and Bentley High School. She and her siblings rode a horse-drawn carriage to school.  She loved music, and the family loved hearing her play their beautiful player piano.

Upon graduation, Gladys studied secretarial skills at Alberta College and began office work in Edmonton. She was a wizard at shorthand and could type at lightning speed. She was sharp at math and bookkeeping, quickly adding columns of numbers in her head. In 1953, she married Alfred George Porcher, an Edmonton businessman. Together, they were a successful business partnership, with Alfred excelling in sales and Gladys excelling in record-keeping and communications.

Gladys and Alf were active members of the Unitarian Churches of Edmonton and Victoria, as well as the Natural History Society and other groups. They created a magnificent rock garden in their backyard, with special rocks from their mountain adventures, beautiful flowers and bird baths.  Gladys loved walking in nature and was a collector of driftwood and RoxNShelz (as Alf labelled her boxes before major moves); she loved walking trails in forests, mountains, and riversides,  wading in the ocean, and swimming in lakes.

Gladys was an excellent cook, and loved hosting large dinners at home for the church, bird club, photography club, neighbourhood, and her large family. She was an organizer in the neighbourhood, and created carpools for group music lessons and cold-weather driving to school. She also amassed a box of bowling trophies – a 5-pin bowling champ.  Yoga, ballet and modern dance helped keep her fit.  Her Edmonton community was sad to see Gladys and Alf move to Victoria in 1966, and it was a tough move for Gladys to leave her community and large prairie family.

In Victoria, Gladys and Alf created a successful real estate and land development business. She continued hosting church gatherings, the wedding of nephew Jack and Janice Porcher in her home in 1966, as well as all her relations visiting from the prairies.

In no other role was Gladys more fulfilled than as a mother and grandmother. She adored her two children, and was adored not only by them, but by all their friends, as well as by her many nieces and nephews. She had a warm smile, and found many creative ways to have fun and make children laugh and feel loved. Later in life, she poured that same positivity into her relations with her four grandchildren, who she also loved unconditionally.

Gladys had a green thumb. She always had a successful vegetable garden, which the children and their friends enjoyed raiding. She was not afraid to brave wild blackberry patches, dressed as if for a mission to the moon, with full head-to-toe gear to protect from wasps and thorny canes, and a rake, coat hanger and pruning shears to reach the best bunches of scrumptious berries; which she’d then bake into much-loved pies, and stew into jam or sauce.

In her later years, her grandchildren loved seeking the playful surprises in ‘Grandma’s Garden’, the indoor garden which Gladys created and maintained in the entrance lobby of her Spencer Castle condo; with every season, she added (and sometimes hid) seasonal features, for spring or Easter, summer, harvest time, Halloween, and winter. Creativity blossomed in Grandma’s Garden.

Gladys was a gifted artist. She had a free hand, and could quickly sketch cartoon characters, a bird, or bamboo. She kept sketchbooks, pencils, charcoal and pastels on her dining room table, to encourage and nurture the artistic talents of her grandchildren. And then she delighted in buying their artworks; up to her final days, she loved “seeing the world through their eyes” in their artworks.

Gladys, forever “HappyBe”, has been described as love incarnate. She had a knack for asking how you are, and truly listening with care and compassion. (Many have reflected, “It was never about her.”) In addition to her sunshine smile, she will long be remembered as a vibrant, warm, kind, caring and generous spirit, pouring love and spreading humour and joy at every opportunity. For the past ten years, she was seen almost every day, in her wheelchair heading to Gonzales Bay or Ross Bay for afternoon snack with a family member; her Fairfield neighbours looked forward to her smile, warmth, wit, good cheer and care. Though she had dementia, her vibrancy, vitality and love shone through.

Gladys played the piano for her churches, as well as for Mount St Mary Hospital, where  she lived comfortably since August 2021. Everyone was touched by the uplifting spirit that her music conveyed.

Gladys passed peacefully, in the comfort of family, in August at Mount St Mary. Even in her last week, Gladys continued to ask staff how THEY were feeling, and to express her appreciation for them!  Her family wishes to convey gratitude to all the caring staff at Mount St Mary Hospital.

Gladys is pre-deceased by her husband of 45 years marriage, Alfred.  She is survived by her two children, Laura and Eric (Elizabeth), and four grandchildren, Ian (Lisa), Benjamin, Genevieve and Tuli.  She is also survived by Alberta siblings Verna Routh, Glen Baumbach and Diana Wetzel.

According to her wishes, Gladys had a green burial August 9 at Royal Oak Burial Park.  Her body will return completely to nature, and a grove of native trees will be planted above the green burial plots.  Trees and native plants planted anywhere in Gladys’ honour are appreciated, or donations may be made to Mount St Mary Hospital, in lieu of flowers.