Lillian Dyer, (Erickson, Angus, Visser)
20 March 1915 - 12 Feb 2015
Lillian Visser, née Lillian Olive Dyer, 6th of 9 children born to Charles and Nellie Dyer on the farm south of Carlyle, Sask, died at Bulkley Lodge in Smithers, BC on 12 Feb 2015, only 5 weeks short of becoming the first centenarian in her family.
Lillian married Roy Erickson in 1940. During WW2 they lived in New Westminster, BC; Prince Albert, Sask; and then farmed north of Kinistino, Sask. From 1946 to 1959 they had a farm at Manor, Sask, where they raised their only offspring, Ken Erickson, born in 1943. In 1959 they moved to BC, where Roy died in 1962.
Lillian worked hard to obtain the education she needed to work and contribute to society. After graduating from Moose Jaw Normal School in 1934, she taught in Saskatchewan and BC until 1978. Post retirement, she taught sewing to young women at a World Vision school in Kenya for a year. During the War, after training to operate a mechanical calculator with 108 keys called a comptometer, she worked in the accounting department of Burns and Company in Vancouver and Prince Albert. In 1969 she graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Education degree.
Lillian’s marriage to Alastair Angus ended in divorce. In 1981 she married Jake Visser, living with him on his farm at Telkwa, and later in Smithers, BC. After Jake’s death in 2001, she lived alone with her macaw, Chico, until illness forced her to move to Bulkley Lodge in 2009. Alzheimer’s disease ravaged the last 5 years of her life. During this time her friends Sophie and Henry Fehr and Lil Chick visited almost daily, providing the loving attention that her distant family could not. Despite her dementia, Lillian had moments of lucidity, acknowledging family and friends, singing hymns, and praying; these were precious visits from Lillian who, in some ways, had already left us.
Lillian was passionate about trout fishing with Jake and other family. In 1988 Lillian, Ken and grandson Alejandro, then only 6, caught a marlin at Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. She always had a large garden, and valued food she grew or caught above what she bought in the store.
Lillian had strong religious beliefs. In the 1993 Dyer Family Tree booklet, she says: “The most important part of my life is my faith in Jesus Christ as my personal savior.”
Lillian is predeceased by her brothers Reginald, Bert, Fred, and Harold, and sisters Marjorie and Ethel. Her sister Frances Horner lives in Calgary, Alberta, and sister Myrtle Brayford in Brantford, Ontario. Lillian’s son Ken Erickson is in Burnaby, BC. Grandson Alejandro Erickson lives with his wife Kassia and baby great grandson Auberon Roy Erickson in Durham, UK. Chico, Lillian’s macaw, is at the World Parrot Refuge on Vancouver Island.
There will be a Celebration of Life for Lillian at 1:30pm, 27 March, 2015 at Mountain View Assembly church in Smithers, BC.
There are 62 photos from Lillian’s life online at http://goo.gl/VMDHIB. For smaller file sizes suitable for emails, scroll down to the folder titled “Small versions (max dimension 1024 pixels)”
Friends from the farm community of Manor, Sask can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/3194745012/permalink/10155282157275013/.