Obituary for Dorreen Reid
Gwenyth Dorreen Reid (nee: Cooke) was born at the Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster, BC, on June 8, 1932 to George Gilbert Cooke of Cote St-Amedee QC, and Margaret Maddison Cooke (nee: Smith) of Sunderland, County Durham, UK. She passed away peacefully in her sleep at about 10:25 am on April 21, 2022. She was 89-years-old.
Dorreen was the third of four children, and the first baby girl, undoubtedly treasured. She is predeceased by the youngest of her brothers, Lorne Cooke, but survived by her elder brother Dale Cooke (95) and her little sister, Donna Cooke (82). Dorreen lived most of her life in New Westminster, or in nearby Coquitlam, where she raised her family. On March 18th, 1963, she married Douglas Wilfred Reid, and on July 30th, 1966, she gave birth to her first child, Allan Jefferson Reid, to whom she gave a little sister, Corina Lynne Reid, on the first day of October in 1968. Dorreen was an active member of the Rebekah’s Lodge in New Westminster, and of the New Westminster Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion until 1990, but for a brief hiatus during which the family moved to Grand Forks, BC. Upon their mothers' death in 1976, Dorreen’s sister, Donna, moved in to the Reid home on Montgomery Street in Coquitlam, and the two continued to cohabitate thereafter.
In 1979, Doug and Dorreen separated, their two children, then 13 and 11 years, moved with their mother and aunt to Doug and Dorreen’s matrimonial home on Quadling Street in Coquitlam, where she worked as a homemaker helping with daily chores and personal hygiene for people still living in their own homes despite age and ability challenges. In addition, she worked at a home for adults with Down Syndrome, doing pretty much the same work.
Doug and Dorreen divorced in 1982. In 1990, she departed BC to live near her son and his husband, Dennis Michael Baker, then residing together in Edmonton, AB, where she enjoyed semi-retirement while helping Allan in his flower shop. Donna followed and the two sisters lived together in Edmonton and then in the town of Sylvan Lake before following Allan and Dennis, once again, to Vancouver Island in 2008, living, mostly, in the Swallows’ Landing Condominiums in Esquimalt. In 2016, as a result of a slowly progressing dementia, Dorreen entered the Glengarry Hospital in Victoria where she was an instant hit with the staff, who praise her for her great spirit and, mostly, sunny disposition. Dorreen is survived by her son and daughter and three grandchildren, Sarah Elizabeth Reid (31), Alexander Jordan Reid (21), and Jordan Harrison Reid (19).
Tributes to Dorreen’s memory can be given in her name to the Greater Victoria Eldercare Foundation online or by cheque to the Greater Victoria Eldercare Foundation (1454 Hillside Ave. Victoria, BC. V8T 2B7).This registered charity enhances quality of life for Victoria seniors living in Long-Term Care by providing fish tanks to iPads, wheelchairs to garden beds, live musical performances and much much more.
Dorreen was the third of four children, and the first baby girl, undoubtedly treasured. She is predeceased by the youngest of her brothers, Lorne Cooke, but survived by her elder brother Dale Cooke (95) and her little sister, Donna Cooke (82). Dorreen lived most of her life in New Westminster, or in nearby Coquitlam, where she raised her family. On March 18th, 1963, she married Douglas Wilfred Reid, and on July 30th, 1966, she gave birth to her first child, Allan Jefferson Reid, to whom she gave a little sister, Corina Lynne Reid, on the first day of October in 1968. Dorreen was an active member of the Rebekah’s Lodge in New Westminster, and of the New Westminster Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion until 1990, but for a brief hiatus during which the family moved to Grand Forks, BC. Upon their mothers' death in 1976, Dorreen’s sister, Donna, moved in to the Reid home on Montgomery Street in Coquitlam, and the two continued to cohabitate thereafter.
In 1979, Doug and Dorreen separated, their two children, then 13 and 11 years, moved with their mother and aunt to Doug and Dorreen’s matrimonial home on Quadling Street in Coquitlam, where she worked as a homemaker helping with daily chores and personal hygiene for people still living in their own homes despite age and ability challenges. In addition, she worked at a home for adults with Down Syndrome, doing pretty much the same work.
Doug and Dorreen divorced in 1982. In 1990, she departed BC to live near her son and his husband, Dennis Michael Baker, then residing together in Edmonton, AB, where she enjoyed semi-retirement while helping Allan in his flower shop. Donna followed and the two sisters lived together in Edmonton and then in the town of Sylvan Lake before following Allan and Dennis, once again, to Vancouver Island in 2008, living, mostly, in the Swallows’ Landing Condominiums in Esquimalt. In 2016, as a result of a slowly progressing dementia, Dorreen entered the Glengarry Hospital in Victoria where she was an instant hit with the staff, who praise her for her great spirit and, mostly, sunny disposition. Dorreen is survived by her son and daughter and three grandchildren, Sarah Elizabeth Reid (31), Alexander Jordan Reid (21), and Jordan Harrison Reid (19).
Tributes to Dorreen’s memory can be given in her name to the Greater Victoria Eldercare Foundation online or by cheque to the Greater Victoria Eldercare Foundation (1454 Hillside Ave. Victoria, BC. V8T 2B7).This registered charity enhances quality of life for Victoria seniors living in Long-Term Care by providing fish tanks to iPads, wheelchairs to garden beds, live musical performances and much much more.