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Eileen SPENCER

October 17, 2015

SPENCER, Eileen

April 1943 - October 17, 2015


Born in Gillingham UK, Eileen was the only child of Mick and Bea Horrigan; she died peacefully at the Hospice in White Rock, BC. She will be forever missed by her adoring husband of 50+ years, Herb, her children Michael, Claire and Vicky and her loving grandchildren Magnus, Felix, and Sophie.

A true Renaissance woman gifted intellectually as well as in beauty and spirit. The first in her family and among few peers in the 1960s to receive a university degree, she attended the prestigious Rochester Grammar School and then Bedford College at London University, receiving a BA in Modern Languages and later an Adult-Teaching Certificate from Garnett College and MA in Education from SFU.

A career path as varied as her many hairstyles: dedicated mother and gardener, translator, amateur journalist, farmer, beauty consultant, marketeer, Hollywood extra, political campaigner, and most of all, teacher. Eileen met Herb soon after arriving at London University, marrying him in 1965. As soulmates, lovers and best friends, they formed a lifelong partnership. They moved from London to Montreal, to Connecticut, to Vancouver, to a hobby farm in Aldergrove and retired to White Rock in 2003.

She survived pancreatic Cancer for 4 years remaining brave, kind, compassionate and zestful for life. ~ We love you.