Patricia Dawn Vinden

Patricia Dawn Hotham was born January 29, 1932. Mother was Doreen Daniel’s; father killed during the war. When Patricia was five, her mother married Bernard Hotham. The family grew from 3 to five with the addition of Val Hotham (now deceased) (Keith Calvert) and Adrienne Hotham (Bill Rideout) deceased

When Patricia was 16, she worked at a gravel pit, and it was there that she met Arthur Bramhill. When walking home one afternoon, Patricia was injured in a traffic accident and required a cast on her leg and her arm. Back then, any injuries requiring a cast meant a 6-month hospital stay! When she was finally home again, she was able to go back to her Grass Hockey team. Patricia was the goalie, and the team made sure that nothing would hit her recent injuries, so they put extra padding on her. Patricia said that the team was so good that she never had to leave the goal pen.

When Patricia turned 19, she went to nursing school in York. She was very proud of her uniform and told us how she had to wash, starch and fold and pleat her cap. On weekends, she and her friends would go out dancing and and it was at one of the dances that she bumped into Arthur Bramhill again. Shortly thereafter, they were engaged and then married. At that time nursing students were not allowed to be married and so she gave up her lifelong dream.

Patricia and Arthur were married in 1951. Patricia was an amazing seamstress and made herself a suit and blouse for her wedding! Janice was born the following year.

Arthur was in the army and training military men and their horses in preparation for Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation Parade on June 2nd, 1953. They were to line both sides of the street in order to protect the queen.

In 1954 Sandra was born and in 1956, Arthur was posted to Cypress due to the uprising between the Greeks and Cypriots. The family moved to Nicosia. As the fighting escalated, it became too dangerous for them to stay and therefore Patricia and her children returned to England. They lived on the Bramhill farm and with were able to Arthur’s parents. Their son Phil arrived the following year.

In 1960, Arthur made arrangements to come to Canada on a farming scheme. Many farmers and their families immigrated on these schemes. It was a situation wherein the family would be provided a residence rent free for their work on the farms. The only problem was that there was not a lot of compensation for their work. They were given milk and eggs, chicken and sometimes beef but it didn’t provide clothing for growing families. Thank heavens for family allowance!

The Bramhills left England on the SS Empress of France. Arthur was seasick and Phil was sick on the voyage as well. They brought their dog, Sally on the trip and she hated being left in a kennel. The ship berthed in Halifax and from there, the family travelled across Canada by train arriving When in Vancouver. As it was February, Patricia was thrilled by the heart shaped boxes everywhere; something she had never seen before. For years Patricia was gifted heart shaped boxes of chocolates for her birthday.

The family lived in Ladner and soon

were joined by new sister Ruth. Arthur had completed his service and were moving to the north of the province-a place that no longer exists. It was called Halfway as it was halfway between Ft. St. John and Hudson’s Hope. Arthur farmed there, the eldest daughters walked with the rest of the farm children to a one room schoolhouse.

The house was big, and Patricia would make games for the children which would help with the housework. She would tie flannels covered with wax on their feet and had them “skating” around the kitchen. An ingenious idea!

The basement in their house was used by the farm to store the grain for the winter and soon, Sally was chasing mice. Arthur and Patricia felt it was time to move to the little town of Hudson’s Hope. Upon arrival the family moved into a log cabin. It was not very big. A small bedroom, small living room and a kitchen with a wood burning stove. Patricia had cooked on one of these in England and she knew what to do. There was an outhouse and a well, no modern conveniences at all! In the winter, Arthur walked across the frozen river to go logging. One day, he slipped on the ice and was bed bound for a while until his injuries healed.

Soon, an influx of people arrived in town due to the announcement of the WAC Bennett damn that was to be built. Arthur was a heavy-duty mechanic and he stayed in camp all week coming home on Friday nights. Soon, the family moved to their new trailer - running water, plenty of space, lighting and a furnace. A few years later sister Tracey arrived; the family was complete.

Patricia was an excellent cook and baker. She loved Christmas and always made everything special. Patricia and Arthur became Cub Scout leaders; they joined a square-dancing group, and they became church wardens. Patricia was also involved in Girl Guides of Canada and was a District Commissioner. Patricia taught at the primary school, she was a substitute teacher, and she even acted in plays: “Aunt Tillie goes to town” and “Lady in Red”.

Patricia made plans to travel to England in 1965. She needed to travel to Fort St John to catch her connecting flight to Vancouver. By then, Arthur owned a vehicle and was driving her to Fort St. John for her flight. They were involved in a head on collision caused by a drunk driver. Patricia had extensive injuries while Arthur had head injuries, and he couldn’t remember what had happened. Patricia had total recall which allowed the police to apprehend the guilty party.

In 1979 the family moved to Victoria. Patricia worked in a few different places; Arthur worked for BC Hydro. Eventually, Patricia went back to school and got her Practical Nurses License. Sadly, her beloved Arthur passed away on June 9th, 1978, shortly after their 25th wedding anniversary. Patricia continued to work and then decided to get her Registered Nurses Certificate. At the age of 50 she had completed a 3-year course and finally became the nurse she always wanted to be.

In 1983, Patricia met Russ Vinden and they were engaged within 6 weeks. They married in October of that same year and had 40 years together until Russ’ death at age 98.

Patricia was an amazing woman, loved and respected by everyone who met her. She was a knitter, seamstress and made me many clothes that I remember. She did amazing embroidery; there wasn’t a craft she didn’t try. She was well read and loved watching Jeopardy. She loved to sing, enjoyed music, she was witty and enjoyed hosting parties.

She will forever be missed by daughter Janice (Gerry) children Linnea (Jimmy), Peter, Susanne (Don);daughter Sandra and children Steve (Elly) Deb (Adam); son Phil (Cheryl) sons Russell (Chelsea), Richard (Shyla, and their son Henry) and Reggie (Ally) daughter Ruth (pre deceased by her husband Murray) children Raymond (Breanne), Brianne (Tyler) and their children Avery and Austin, Nadely (James) and their children Evelyn, Elizabeth and Arthur and daughter Tracey (Jeff) children Tanisha, Shanice (Daniel) and Jordan (Genna)

With sincere thanks to Hospice, Dr. Schneider and Dr. El Karsh

Rest in Peace mom,

We will miss you forever