Obituary for Helen Mary Pereira (Gowans)
Helen Pereira (née Gowans)
20.04.1926- 05. 02. 2018
Helen was born in Grand Forks, B.C., to Bill and Lavinia Gowans. The youngest of eight, she was partly raised by her sisters, and doted on by her brothers. With their help, and with money she earned working at a salmon cannery, she was able to enroll at UBC, where she studied writing under Earle Birney, and from where she graduated with a B.A. and B.S.W.
Throughout the ups and downs of life, and in addition to her career as a social worker, she remained driven to write. Though her first marriage took her to Ontario, and her second, to Brazil, it was her love of the written word that inspired countless trips around the world, and on the page. In the 1960s, she traveled to Cuba, and wrote about hearing Castro speak; in the 1980s, she spent time in Ireland, where she set her first novel, Magpie in the Tower; in the 1990s, she won a fellowship to earn her master’s degree in Fine Arts (Creative Writing) at Cleveland State University; by the mid-2000s, she was the author of four more novels, The Home We Leave Behind, Wild Cotton, Birds of Paradise, and Southern Exposure, the latter set in Brazil; in 2010, she moved to Haileybury to be closer to her children, and thus a small town in Ontario became the setting for her latest, unpublished, work. Over the course of her life she had numerous short stories published, one of which was anthologized as one of Canada’s best, and also held a certificate in Adult Education from Sheridan College, where she taught creative writing.
For the men in her family, she was a tireless champion, and rooted them on in every endeavour. For the women, she was example of what women could fight for, and achieve. Left to mourn are her children Gretchen Roedde and Stephen Roedde (Janet); grandchildren Jeremy (Lori), Anna, Alec (Hayley), Zak (Erika), Nigel (Kim); and great-grandchildren Regan, James, Sydney, and Etta. Auntie Nellie will be missed by her extensive family of nieces and nephews.
The family would like to acknowledge and thank her former students for their visits, calls, and letters; her friend and PSW Mary, for keeping her in coffee, newspapers, and lotto tickets; Lena and the wonderful staff at Extendicare; Joanne Presseault, NP, and Dr Hutten-Czapski, for their care.
At Helen’s request, there will be no service, but a local celebration of her life will take place in the spring.
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Helen Mary Pereira Gowans 1926 2018.source
Death notice for the town of: Haileybury, Province: Ontario