Seniha Engin Çançar Birch

Seniha Engin é‡ançar Birch, my dear mother, passed on at age 88 on 18 April 2015. She gave abundant love, together with wise and gentle advice to 3 generations of her family. She was a mountain of strength and a ready refuge during times of adversity in all their lives. She gave her love and support, and offered hospitality and help to friend and stranger without hesitation. She was a proud Canadian with a strong love for her Turkish homeland. She was born in Izmir, Turkey in 1926, lost her mother and father within 6 months of each other the age of 10. She joined Turkish Aviation Society to complete her high school and to receive pilots training. She married the man she loved in 1946, and was a devoted wife and a mother. She came to Calgary with her family in 1966, and to Victoria in 1973. As a young mother, she wrote and translated children's books and plays in Ankara, and wrote for leading newspapers. She contacted village school teachers and students to praise their work, and contacted authorities to improve their poor conditions in Gé¼mé¼á¹£hane, and Konya, Turkey. She loved nature and animals with passion. She would transcend to bliss when she immersed her hands in earth, and planted trees and flowers that bloomed magically everywhere she went. During the Sixties, she served as a top level assistant at NATO command headquarters in Turkey, and was loved and respected by her friends and coworkers, the Turkish, British, U.S., and Greek Naval officers and their families there. She was a successful business woman, running a highly popular specialty restaurant in Calgary, and a leather goods store in Victoria, while providing active cultural directorship in the Turkish-Canadian friendship societies in both cities. She had a beautiful, pure, gentle, loving faith in Islam, and interest in varied philosophical and humanitarian teachings, including Mevlevi (Sufi), and Bahai. She loved and was loved by her Greek (Rum), Armenian, and Turkish friends, who helped and cared for her during difficult times in Istanbul and Ankara. She is happy now, embraced by her beloved daughter Saide and her granddaughter Saba. Kemal é‡ançar

Celebration of Life