Marilyn Ann Cooper passed away peacefully on July 23rd, 2022 in the Palliative care ward of Nanaimo General Regional Hospital. She was born to Arnold and Esther Miller in Vancouver on March 3rd, 1937. Marilyn is survived by her brother Arne, Sister-in-law June, sister-in-law Pat, son Stephen, daughter Shari, daughter-in-law Anne, son-in-law Ross, grandchildren Derek and Shannon, great –grandchild Valerie and Auntie to many nieces and nephews.
Marilyn grew up in Vancouver and after high school, chose nursing as her profession. She worked in several wards at Vancouver General Hospital and settled in Coquitlam to raise her son and daughter. In the mid 1970’s she returned to work at Royal Columbian Hospital to be the Head Nurse in the Rehabilitation ward. In 1985, the Rehab ward was transferred to the newly built Eagle Ridge Hospital in Port Moody. She helped set up the ward and managed the nursing there until her retirement in 1996. While working at Eagle Ridge, she continued her education and earned her Bachelors of Nursing.
After Marilyn retired, she spent many years volunteering at Banting Secondary School in Coquitlam teaching students how to raise their own garden and managed the Banting public plant sale that raised thousands of dollars each year. for Banting School. She received many community volunteer awards for her work at Banting. She also volunteered at SHARE in Port Moody for many years.
Marilyn took her love of gardening and volunteering to Cedar on Vancouver Island in 2016. She grew and kept beautiful gardens filled with flowers, vegetables and love. She will be dearly missed by all who knew her and loved her as well as for her quick wit and “no-punches-pulled” advice.
The family wishes to thank the wonderful staff at the Palliative care ward for their compassionate care and professionalism during mom’s stay. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the
Nanaimo Hospice Society. A private celebration of life will be held at the family residence in Cedar on September 10th at 1:00 for family and friends.