June 26, 1932 - July 25, 2024
In loving memory ~
It is with great sadness we announce the passing of our mom, grandmother, great grandmother, great-great grandmother, Helen Gosnell, with her family by her side on July 25.
Predeceased by her parents, Edward and Helen Shearing, husband John Gosnell, sons Ron and David Nash and brothers William, Ted and John Shearing and half-brother, Dacie Gunn. She is survived by her children Elaine Raynard, Deb George, Kate Blackburn and Andy (Cindy) Nash, stepchildren, Cathy (Bob) McCubin and Joe (Kelly) Rhodes. 33 grandchildren, 43 great grandchildren and 5 great-great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.
Mom was always proud to be the granddaughter of one of the men who arrived on the first boat of settlers in Cowichan and a First Nations woman from Cowichan who settled on the farm she would grow up on. Mom loved the farm life, often describing herself as a "tomboy", but I am sure that happens when you are the youngest, a girl and raised with 4 brothers.
She loved all sports from a very young age and played every sport available to her through her school years. That love of sports would take her away from home at the tender age of 17 after she was scouted by a professional softball team, the Morton's, to play out of Edmonton. Mom loved softball, and it provided her with the chance to travel all over North America. That love of sports would follow mom all throughout her life whether it was coaching students in the school she taught in , playing women's softball with local teams, or when she felt she was getting to old she started to play she began coaching teams in the community.
It was in Edmonton where she met and married her first husband, Jim Nash, after the birth of their first child they made the decision to move back to Duncan. They would go on to have 6 children together, but the marriage would end after 14 years. Mom was resilient, never letting anything get her down and with the help of her mom and dad acting as her babysitters, she took advantage of a critical shortage of teachers in BC. At that time the government would offer a teacher certificate to anyone who completed 10 months of schooling and summer school. That would be the beginning of a teaching career that spanned 34 years in the local school district, teaching and coaching hundreds of students, many who still remember Mrs. G as their favorite teacher or coach.
It was also the time where she would meet and marry the love of her life, John, and would spend 54 years with him before his death in 2020. They would settle on a parcel of land from the farm mom was raised on and spent the next 53 years building and nurturing their home on Telegraph Road. Home was Mom's favorite spot, it's where she got to blend her three great loves: family and friends, entertaining and gardening. That love was evident whether it was in the beautiful flower gardens that surrounded her home, abundant vegetable and berry gardens that always produced too many vegetables even for our family, the epic Canada Day celebrations that everyone had to participate in, pool parties and shuffleboard tournaments were winning seemed to mean bragging rights that lasted a lifetime, yearend class celebrations for her students, family weddings, Christmas dinners or Santa's visit for the grandchildren every year.
Unfortunately, due to her husband's deteriorating health, she made the difficult decision to downsize and move to a condo in Duncan. After the death of John and her own health deteriorating mom moved into an independent living facility, Tsi'tsa watul Lelum, where she made numerous friends and enjoyed being able to walk to town and in the summer enjoy the music in the park and the Seniors center. The last few months of mom's life were spent at Cairnsmore lodge.
We would like to take this time to thank Dr Rimmer, Dr Blackburn and the staff at Cairnsmore for their care and support of mom and the family throughout her illness.
In following with mom's wishes a celebration of her life will be held on September 28, 2024 from 1-4 at the Cobble Hill Hall. We encourage anyone with a story or memory about mom to come and share and celebrate a life well lived.
First Memorial Funeral Services
Service Details
1:00 PM