Barrie Morrison    Sylvia Pincott    Sara Steil    Eleanor Brownlee    Ursula Poepel

Here is Barrie planting native species at our restoration efforts at Hope Bay Stream.  Barrie was instrumental in supporting the Hope Bay Stream Salmon Restoration Project.  He was the one who contacted me to get the project going again once the local RAR had passed, and had worked to get chum salmon in the stream for many years.  We put in 24,000 eggs this year (2013), on the second year of an eight year PICA project. 

Barrie also started the series of talks and presentations held at the library that eventually morphed into the highly successful PICA-sponsored presentations featuring well-known naturalists. 

Barrie purchased the land beside his property, had a small run-down cottage removed, and placed a covenant on the land.  Through Barrie Morrison and his family's generosity, the fund in his wife Nancy's name was created, in turn assisting other people with the opportunity to put an ecological covenant on their properties to protect the flora and fauna in perpetuity. 

I had the pleasure of assisting the PICA board while Barrie was a director.  He was knowledgeable and generous with his time and energy.  For many years, he looked after Medicine Beach and checked the covenants on the islands for PICA.  I looked for him to come to PICA's presentations, beach clean-ups and events.  He was also an active member of Pender Island Trust and Protection Society. 

Barrie sang with the choir and was taking piano lessons.  Every day he walked to Port Washington for a view of the ocean.  He enjoyed spending time in his garden.  He had an inquiring mind and an impressive library with books on many topics.  He was a gentleman and a scholar.  I shall miss his energy and enthusiasm for our Pender community and his vision of a greener, better future for his beloved islands.  

Amanda Griesbach
PICA's Coordinator for Beach Clean Up and the Salmon Stream Restoration project

April 26, 2013

Photos by Davy Rippner, Amanda Griesbach &  Paul Petrie

Barrie and PICA's Brooks Point committee member Jill Ilsley

Jill remembers: "Very chilly at one of Pender's earliest 2012 Farmer's Markets at the onset of an ambitious fundraising effort to raise $150,000 in 150 days.  Barrie's quiet confidence, steady presence and easy smile  warmed the day for me and made anything seem possible.”

Donation to Islands Trust Fund Honours
Barrie Morrison and Nancy Waxler

Morrison Waxler Biodiversity Protection Legacy Fund encourages land conservation on Pender Islands

North and South Pender Island landowners may now apply to the Morrison Waxler Biodiversity Protection Legacy Fund to pay all or a portion of the costs of a conservation covenant. This fund was established to remember Barrie Morrison and Nancy Waxler, two long-time residents of North Pender Island.

Barrie Morrison was born in Toronto in 1930 but was raised in Regina during the Depression – a social crisis that deeply shaped his perspective on life and his academic interests. He taught at a small school in northern Saskatchewan and spent time working on tugboats out of Vancouver, where he learned the moods of the Pacific Ocean.  A lifelong scholar, he earned an honours degree in history in 1954 at the University of Saskatchewan where he met his first wife, Ann Spencer.  He continued his studies at Oxford University with a British Council scholarship, earning a Master’s degree in 1960. During this time, his first two children, Peter and Sara were born.  By 1965 he had earned a PhD at the University of Chicago, studying archaeological remains and property transfer records in a culturally important region in what is now Bangladesh. At that time his third child, Douglas was born.

After a postdoctoral position at the University of Washington he returned to Canada as an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC), eventually becoming professor emeritus and an honorary research professor with the Institute for Asian Research.

During his academic career, Barrie’s great intellectual curiosity shifted from history to sociology. In 1976, he met fellow scholar Nancy Waxler during a trip to Sri Lanka. They were married in 1982 and collaborated on several papers until their retirement from UBC when they moved to North Pender Island.

Barrie became an active member of the Pender Islands Conservancy Association (PICA) and was instrumental in supporting the Hope Bay Stream Salmon Restoration Project. He placed a conservation covenant on his land to help ensure protection of its flora and fauna. After Nancy’s death in 2007, he started a fund in her name to help others register conservation covenants on their Pender Islands properties.

Barrie died in 2013.  To honour Barrie and Nancy’s commitment to protecting the natural values of the Penders, the family has donated $20K to the Islands Trust Fund to establish the Morrison Waxler Biodiversity Protection Legacy Fund.  The fund is intended to help other Pender Island landowners protect habitat on their land with covenants, carrying on Barrie and Nancy’s legacy.  The funding is intended to cover costs including survey plans, baseline reports, legal costs, and registration costs.

To be eligible for funding, the covenant must include the Trust Fund Board as one of the covenant holders. Covenants registered as part of the Natural Area Protection Tax Exemption Program are eligible for funding support. Applications for funding may be made at the start of covenant negotiations (accompanying or following the submission of a Conservation Proposal to the Trust Fund Board) or at any time until three months after the registration of the covenant.  Covenants associated with a development application (e.g. rezoning, subdivision) are not eligible for funding.

Grants from the Morrison Waxler Biodiversity Protection Legacy Fund range from $100 - $4,000.  Larger grants may be considered for covenants with larger protected areas or exceptional biodiversity values.  Please contact us to discuss your application with a staff member.

"The man who serves humanity best is he who, rooted in his own nation, develops his spiritual and moral endowments to their highest capacity, so that growing beyond the limits of his own nation he is able to give something to the whole of humanity."

- Quote from 1926 Nobel Peace Prize winner Gustav Stresemann which was important to Barrie Morrison

University of British Columbia Department of Asian Studies In Memoriam for Barry

A Tribute To Friendship

Sylvia Pincott smiled each time she saw me ... and I smiled back.  Instrumental in keeping me exulting in the natural world, she reminded me always of our duty to Dame Nature -- enjoy and protect.  She supported the Eagle Watch Project.  She delighted in my love of Sharp-tailed Snakes and had Keith out looking for them on their beloved land.  And she embraced my Old Man passion for Vultures, giving away numerous copies of my book.  Whether it be turtles, bats or tiny little mosses at her toes, she greeted all of Nature with her open arms.  A stroll down her driveway was equal to journeying round the world.

Before heading south last fall, Eroca and I visited Sylvia and Keith.  We suspected it might be our last time with Sylvia. Eroca sang as Sylvia rested in bed, teary eyed. When Eroca sang, it was always pure listening and big grins of gratitude.

Adios dear one, til next time. You were my Mentor, my inspiration, my friend. Wherever there be beauty, you will find a home.

David Manning

The Nature of David Manning photos

Sylvia Doris Stanley was born at Vancouver General Hospital to Doris and Mark Stanley.  Her early years were spent in Burnaby near Central Park.  Her parents moved to the Okanagan in Oyama, BC, and ran the Kalamalka Lake resort. Sylvia attended both elementary and secondary schools there.  This may be where her love of all things natural began.  After graduation she moved down to Vancouver to attend business college.  Upon graduation from there she worked for both British American & Gulf Oil Companies.  

Sylvia moved to Abbotsford along with her parents in the early 70’s.  Sylvia had a brief Real Estate career in the 1980’s where she sold a house for Keith Pincott. They were married in the backyard of her Marshall Road home in Abbotsford on June 25th, 1983.  She also sold a house to the Blakeleys and remained good friends all these years.  She & Keith became the kid's Oma & Opa.

All this time Sylvia was caring for her dad, her mom with Alzheimer’s, and two of Keith’s aging aunts.  She also was developing her love for the environment.  She was incredibly organized in all these efforts!

She worked tirelessly on her garden and encouraged the use of native plants to support the lives of native animals.  From this concept of nurturing her own little green space came her idea of “Backyard Habitat” which she developed and promoted with the municipality.  It soon spread to other communities and was eventually taken on by the province as “Naturescape”. She encouraged these programs with many speaking engagements, talking about everything from bats to bees.

In 2002 she and Keith moved to Pender Island where her environmental efforts continued.

Sylvia’s tireless work did not go unnoticed. Her many contributions and awards include:

• The Federation of BC Naturalist’s & Government of BC’s recognition for developing Naturescape BC (1995)
• Outstanding Volunteer Award from Parks and Recreation Commission in Abbotsford (1998)
• Fraser Valley Bald Eagle Festival Award (2001)
• The opening of the Sylvia Pincott Heritage Garden in Abbotsford at the Trethewey House (2002)
• The Environmental Recognition Award from the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce (2002)
• The President’s Award from the Wild Bird Trust of BC (2005)
• Contributor to the Garry Oak Gardener’s Handbook (2011)
• Regular promotor, contributor of articles, member & past president of the Pender Islands Conservancy Association
• Lifetime member of the Pender Island Field Naturalists
• Writer for the Abbotsford Times and Pender Post
• Worked  with the Habitat Acquisition Trust to protect natural environments & promote the use of native plants in BC
• Stewardship Award for Enduring Achievement from the Islands Trust
• Many more contributions to the lives of so many people

Sylvia suffered from fibromyalgia and bone cancer for many years.  She was finally forced to move off her beloved Pender due to her deteriorating health conditions.  She and Keith moved into a care facilitiy in Mission.  She soon passed away on February 15, 2019 in Abbotsford General Hospital.

She will be greatly missed but her legacy will live on for many generations.

From Sylvia’s Kitchen
Czechoslavakian Cauliflower Soup

3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
3 ⅔ cups chicken broth
1 cup water
3 cups small cauliflowerets
1 egg yolk
3 tablespoons heavy cream
snipped parsley

About 45 minutes to prepare

Before serving: in medium saucepan melt butter, blend in flour & nutmeg. Slowly stir in broth & water to bring to boil while stirring. Add cauliflower & simmer covered for 25 minutes or until cauliflower is tender.  In small bowl mix egg yolk with cream, stirring until blended.  Add to the soup then bring just to  boiling point, stirring constantly.  Serve in small bowls sprinled with parsley.

About 6 servings.

View Sylvia Pincott’s Pender Post & Naturescape articles

View PICA’s Brooks Point 2014 hike

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Sara Steil on March 10th. Sara was an intrepid volunteer and someone who led by example.  Over the years, she had been on the boards of a number of local groups including the Canadian Power and Sail Squadron (Pender Island), the Pender Islands Trust Protection Society, and of course the Pender Conservancy (PICA).  

She was also an active partner with other groups including SeaChange, Georgia Strait Alliance, and CPAWS, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.  

At the heart of all her work was her love of the Pender Islands and her desire to protect the environment of this very special place and the Salish Sea which surrounds it.

Rhondda Porter-Plumb

Sara and Richard Steil
Steil's Woods Covenant 

 

Eleanor Brownlee

June 17, 1943 - June 9, 2019
Past President of PICA & Friend of the Environment

It is with great sadness that the Pender Islands Conservancy announces the death of Eleanor Brownlee, a dedicated conservationist and long-time member of PICA and PITPS.  Her smiling encouragement and gentle manner endeared her to many on the island.  She will be sorely missed. 

Rhondda Porter-Plumb

“She was a champion for Pender environment”

On Sunday June 9th Eleanor Brownlee, member of the Pender Islands Conservancy Association Board, passed away at Victoria General Hospital. Eleanor joined the PICA Board in May 2011 and was a dedicated supporter of the protection of the natural environment of the Pender Islands.  She held a Masters degree in environmentalism and served as Vice-president and President of the Conservancy.  As a colleague and friend her quiet yet strong personality was respected by fellow board members.  She had a particular interest and personal involvement in the Forage Fish Monitoring Project and worked with the team identifying forage fish spawning locations around the Penders.

Eleanor will be greatly missed both as a conservationist and as a person of integrity.

Graham Boffey

It is fitting that Mother Nature featured prominently in Eleanor’s last holiday on Vancouver Island as her spirit was soothed by the waves crashing onto Chesterman Beach, by the majestic 800-year-old Douglas fir trees at Cathedral Grove and by the herons, sea lions and ravens she closely observed at Williams Beach.

A Tribute

Pender Island has lost another strong environmental advocate and community supporter. On June 9, 2019, Eleanor Brownlee died with her family around her after having enjoyed a full and interesting life.  She was born in Brandon, Manitoba and raised on the prairies where her mother Helen Riesberry, and aunt Marg Goodman instilled in her a love for nature. She was a social worker, a great mother to her three children, Ross (Heidi), Kevin (Myra) and Meredith and a wonderful grandmother to her two grandchildren, Meghan and Corbin. As a champion of volunteerism, Eleanor worked for the United Way and became a founding member of Winnipeg’s first hospice, Jocelyn House.  Later in life, she obtained her Master’s degree in Divinity and became a chaplain at St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg.

Eleanor came to Pender Island for the first time in 1994 to visit her best friend Bonnie Thompson. After a few visits, the West Coast beckoned and she found herself owning a home on the island. When Eleanor retired, she moved to Pender and a whole new journey began.  It wasn’t long before she jumped into island life.  She became a familiar face behind the counters at the Nu-To-Yu and the Pender Food Bank.  She then joined the Women’s Institute where she took part in Official Community Plan discussions and enjoyed working on fundraising projects such as Christmas door swag and beeswax candle making workshops.  For some years she was a Victim Services’ volunteer.  For many years she was on the Pender Post’s advisory committee and editorial board.

Whether it was birds, cats, deer, goldfish or newts, she loved all feathered, finned and furry creatures, and looked out for them. She loved herons but when one decided that Eleanor’s pond was his favourite snack stop, Eleanor asked a friend to pick up some strong fishing line at a fishing specialty store in Ladner.  The proprietor’s eyes widened when seventy-pound test was requested. “Wow, what kind of fish are you planning to catch?”  Eleanor strung the fishing line across her garden, above the pond, to discourage the hungry heron.  It worked. She gained much pleasure from her garden as she watched its beauty unfold under her loving care as an avid gardener.

For fun, she joined the Field Naturalists’ group and thoroughly enjoyed their outings such as the boat trips to observe sea life in the Race Rocks area.  She enjoyed the exercise and camaraderie of Ella’s gentle yoga class for several years. 

Eleanor was a strong supporter of Indigenous rights and recognized the significance of the island to the local First Nations.  As a member of the Pender Truth and Reconciliation Circle, she believed in the importance of reconciliation and its legacy for future generations, a personal interest influenced by her two adopted Indigenous children and her grandchildren. 

Eleanor was keen on introducing the splendour and the tranquil beauty of Pender Island to her family who hail from the prairies.  It didn’t take long for her children, their spouses and grandchildren, to understand why she loved living on the island so much.  Fond memories will live on of hikes in the luscious forests and family picnics at her favourite spots, Gowlland and Brooks Points, to watch a pod of orcas swim by and explore tidal pools. 

Eleanor’s most important focus was the natural world.  She firmly supported the Islands Trust with its important “Preserve and Protect” mandate; she was a long-time member of the Pender Islands Trust Protection Society.  Perhaps her most significant contribution to Pender Island was the work she did for several years on the board of the Pender Islands Conservancy Association.  She knew the important role that forage fish play, and spent many cold hours helping forage-fish expert Ramona de Graaf carry out her work in the intertidal zone to support forage fish, “the corner stone of the marine food chain.”  Eleanor was also involved in the Hope Bay Salmon Stream rehabilitation project and many other PICA initiatives.  She was always busy supporting some environmental undertaking including being caught carrying newts one by one across a construction road to help with their migration! 

Although Eleanor was the picture of calm, kindness and generosity, she wasn’t afraid to “speak truth to power” in her letters to local, provincial and national governments.  She was instrumental in advocating for several environmental legislative measures keeping the Prime Minister’s Office on its toes with her many handwritten letters.  This passion was illustrated clearly in a Letter of Comment she submitted on July 13, 2015 to the National Energy Board, to voice her reasons against the proposed expansion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline project. Her love for the Pender community and the seabirds and creatures in the sea, particularly the southern resident orcas, is strongly expressed.  She knew the importance of Brooks Point Regional Park to the Pender community and visitors, and expressed concern about the inadequate spill response that existed then.  She stressed her belief that a diluted bitumen spill would have devastating effects on the Salish Sea.

Eleanor will be missed by many creatures, friends, islanders and family. Through her community involvement and her thoughtful words and actions, Eleanor made Pender a better place for the rest of us.

Eleanor’s family is grateful for the local generosity and help and is comforted to know that she built such a strong and supportive community around her. Everyone is welcome to attend a celebration of Eleanor’s life at 1:00pm on Saturday, August 3rd, 2019 at St. Peter’s Church. 

The Brownlee Family and Eleanor’s friends

Some early tributes:

"We will surely miss this most unforgettable woman who gave so much of herself to our community.

"RIP dear friend Ursula.

"One of the thoughts that we sometimes express is that we want to die with our boots on.  Our dear friend, Ursula, did just that.  On March 1st she forwarded a post upbraiding Alaska for giving Donald Trump, Jr. a permit for the trophy hunt of a grizzly bear.  Last Friday night, which must have been after the ambulance left her house but before she had the stroke, she forwarded a notice about trying to stop the slaughter of sharks whose fins are cut off for shark fin soup.  Five days later, she died.  Ursula was a treasure who certainly “did her bit” to make the world and Pender Island in particular, a better place. May she Rest In Peace.

"I feel so deeply sad to lose her.

"Oh my ... I can't imagine Pender without Ursula.

"Few people gave more to her community than she did.  Or tried harder to save the natural world that she loved so much.  A true character, and from what I can tell, she really lived by her values.

"We did not know Ursula long but came to know her through church. Her faith, always strong, was clear and the promises she understood very well sure.  Clearly she means so much to so many.

"For ourselves we will just say, goodbye Ursula, we shall see you again where your enthusiasm continues not constrained by illness or pain.

"Dear Ursula: You will be forever missed and always remembered.  May you rest without pain.

"A sad loss for Pender.  Ursula will be sadly missed as a personal friend and dedicated community member and supporter of the Pender Islands environment.

"Ursula  was a remarkable member of our Community Church congregation and of the Pender Island community.  You always knew where you stood with her.  She was honest and forthright, and although she was fierce about her environmental and political beliefs, she was also kind and generous.  Her childlike innocence was refreshing.

"I am so sorry to hear this sad news.  She will be missed.

"Oh, I am so sorry to hear this!  How shocking and unexpected. 

"She pushed me for a couple of years "you must reduce your waste" and since our garbage problem a few months ago, I am close to zero-waste.  I shall be forever grateful to her for this!  We had great laughs.

"A major presence on Pender.  I met her in the PI Choir, a force for light and brightness, though I was the brunt of some of her blunt-ness a few times.  I remember her at the Farmers market and she sold us some deer-proof plants that thrive in our garden to this day.

"I was aware she had her health challenges, but assumed she'd be around forever!

"Dear, precious Ursula:  Today we hung the cross you gave us with the Lord’s Prayer engraved on it in a very prominent place in our home.  There it will hang in your memory and we’ll think of you each and every day.  Sleep well, mein fraulein.

"For the past year or two we have talked on the phone and exchanged multiple daily e-mails, discovering many common interests.  She leaves a big hole in my life.

"Ursula was a member of the Lions club since 2003.

"I knew her personally for 30 years.

"At our last meeting she was having difficulty walking and I helped her walk to her car.
It is a sad day for myself, the Lions, and the community.

"She will be missed.

"We were saddened to hear about Ursula yesterday and we are the better for having known her." 

HEART AND SOUL

Borrowing Lynne Wells’ words, “Pender Island has lost another amazing, passionate, feisty, and dedicated environmental and community warrior, Ursula Poepel.”  When in early 2018 I learned by chance that Ursula had marked her 80th birthday a couple of months earlier, I wrote a tribute to her to mark the occasion.  I’ve updated it:

Ursula Poepel:  A Pender Treasure

Victoria’s loss was Pender Islands' gain when in 1986, pharmacist Ursula Poepel decided to move here.  Before Victoria, after coming to Canada in 1972, Ursula worked in Calgary, Frobisher Bay (now called Iqaluit) and Inuvik.  She opened the islands’ first pharmacy at George Coates’ fledgling Driftwood shopping centre.  Being able to get prescriptions and purchase other health aids on island was something much appreciated by the community. Ursula remembers she opened her doors on August 12, on the same day that Sheri Boyte opened her hair salon, Shear Delight.  For years Ursula worked long hours and took few breaks as she looked after our pharmaceutical needs in the days before the internet.

Dr. Don Williams also moved to Pender in 1986.  He recalls that not only did Ursula do such a good job of dispensing medication, but also she took good care of our feet.  Don says that it wasn’t long after the pharmacy opened that he and our other doc, Dr. Ellen Anderson, were sporting brand new pairs of Birkenstocks.  Ursula did a sterling job of dispensing our prescriptions but at that time Ursula’s strong voice and the way the dispensary was set up made it easy for one’s ailments to be shared with other patrons, hemorrhoids or whatever we had.

When fundraising campaigns needed financial support to purchase land for the Medicine Beach Nature Sanctuary and Brooks Point, or to help build the community hall, Ursula made generous personal donations.  (She paid for the excavation work for the underground wiring for the lamp standards in the parking area at the hall.)  Dr. Don chaired the Medicine Beach Fundraising Committee.  He remembers that it was Ursula who made the first large donation to kick off the campaign, and towards the end, she made another large donation.  Both actions were extremely important as they helped to inspire others to carry on.

In 2006 Ursula donated .8 acres of land near the end of Schooner Way to the Pender Island Parks Commission for a local park which bears her name.  She wanted to donate the land to preserve it for the community to enjoy.  A trail from the park down to Chart Drive was added later. 

She and other neighbours also helped the Parks Commission purchase a small lot on Galleon Way near Gunwale, across from Buck Lake, which provides important habitat for birds and amphibians  In 2007 Ursula received the Islands Trust’s “Enduring Achievement” Stewardship Award for her campaign to remove invasive plant species from Pender Island roadsides and parks, something she had done since moving to the island.  At that point in 2007 she was in her early 70s and still pulled broom and thistles almost every day.  “Broom Hilda”– a name of endearment coined by  George Ravenscroft-- was a familiar roadside sight on Pender.  Ursula even had a poem written about her broom-pulling ways.  She regularly took part in “broom bashes” organized by the local Pender Island Parks Commission and the Pender Islands Conservancy Association, and she was always there for beach cleanup days.

Ursula was in seventh heaven when she got her property on Buck Lake.  She loved her regular swims and at one point bought a rowing scull that she used until it got too heavy for her to lift by herself. She had a green thumb and spent hundreds of hours in her garden with her plants.  But her experiences weren’t always rosy.  Her battles with raccoons, muskrats, otters and even a beaver were often epic.  One winter the muskrats ate almost all of the apples she had stored under her house. Ursula live-trapped them and took them up to Roe Lake. 

We never figured out why these creatures targeted Ursula’s fruit trees and vegetables, and left ours on the other side of the lake, alone.  She also had a soft spot for injured creatures, such as a seagull who couldn’t fly.  She regularly left food on the shore for him.

Born in Germany just before the outbreak of World War II, Ursula didn’t have an easy childhood.  She was raised by nuns who taught her about thrift and frugality. She hated waste, especially food waste.

For many years here, she would pick up fruit and vegetables that patrons at the grocery store would pass over because they were misshapen or had other minor blemishes, and pass the food on to her friends, and others who fed horses, etc. She was happy when the pigs arrived.

She knew how to butcher animals, and each year the highways’ guys would drop off deer that had been killed on the road, so she always had venison in her freezer.

Ursula had been a long-term, active member of many organizations on Pender Island. She was honoured with a life-time membership in 2012 for her work as treasurer of the Pender Island Museum Society.  Similarly, she looked after the Pender Islands Conservancy Association books since 2004.  She was a natural on the Recycling Board having been a recycler since she was a child.

Those of you who attended the Pender Choral Society’s Christmas concerts may have heard Ursula’s beautiful tenor/alto voice.  One year, around 2015, without warning during a concert Ben McConchie asked Ursula to step up and sing the beautiful German Christmas carol, Stille Nacht.  She did, and delighted audiences by singing the carol at many Christmas concerts after that.

Over the years, one of Ursula’s hobbies was rescuing native plants and bulbs from properties in Victoria that were scheduled to be bulldozed for new house construction.  With saved seeds and cuttings, she propagated many of these sometimes rare plants and sold them at the market.  Pender gardeners have benefitted from her green thumb and extensive knowledge of plants with beneficial medicinal qualities.

She was excited when Victor Reece came to Pender and shared his story-telling and carving skills with the Pender community.  Although because of work she couldn’t spend much time carving the poles for the Bear Mother Project, Ursula did what she could, and helped Victor financially by buying one of his beautiful masks.

So, some thirty-three years after coming to this community, not only was she still looking after the PICA books, and singing in the choir, but also she was an active member of the Moving Around Pender group.  She had been a member of the Lions Club for over ten years, and also sat on the Parks Canada Liaison Committee which met twice a year.

After “retirement” she travelled to some very interesting corners of the globe including Iran, Eastern Russia, Cuba, the Galapagos Islands off Ecuador, Machu Pichu in Peru, and Europe.  One of the nicest trips she took was to the Antarctic aboard a Russian ship.  Ursula remembered there were 90 passengers, 25 of whom were Japanese, so the chef made lots of sushi for them. Don Williams remembers the day Ursula, in her new Rav 4, returned from a long road trip to Canada’s north.  The vehicle, stuffed with dried grasses, plants and even some road kill, resembled a natural history museum.

Although Ursula, our philanthropic “bundle-of-energy” has left us, her considerable legacy of kindness and generosity will live on.  When you go for a walk in Ursula Poepel Park at the end of Schooner Way or stroll along Medicine Beach, or go to the community hall, know that Ursula had a big hand in donating the funds to acquire these Pender gems. She was truly a Pender character and a treasure!  She will be sadly missed.

Ursula wanted everyone to know, “I love nature and I love this island very much. I want to die here.”

Doreen Ball