Flora Pike, born in Carbonear, Newfoundland, passed peacefully away on July 2nd at 93 years of age, leaving her loving family deeply saddened but forever grateful to have been loved and guided by her.
Flo was raised in a loving family by Frank and Winnifred (Moore) Pike with her brothers John and Frank Jr. A close family circle and a vital, thriving community shaped her values, aspirations and great compassion, ultimately enabling her happy life and rewarding career path. As a teenager, Flo began her post-secondary education at Mount Allison University in Sackville, NB before pursuing studies in Nursing at the Montreal General Hospital. Upon graduation in 1950, she returned to Newfoundland to join dedicated families and a talented inter-disciplinary team of health professionals in the establishment of the Sunshine Camp, supportive of children facing physical challenges.
In the years that followed, Flo’s life was largely shaped by her two life passions, specialized nursing and travel. She moved to Montreal and began a remarkable career at the Shriners Hospital for Children, an acute care center providing orthopaedic specialty care. There, her leadership and service were legendary. In her position as Head Nurse, her commitment to her young patients and their parents resonated within the hospital community and her relationships with patients and their families were lasting. Flo retired from the Shriners Hospital in the late 1980’s and moved to Ottawa, always remaining in touch with former patients, traveling companions, relatives and friends. Flo’s thirst for exploring the world continued all her life as diversity of culture and landscape intrigued her.
Her busy life in Montreal and Ottawa included a love of bridge and curling and her travels around the globe were fascinating, but nothing kept Flo from returning home to Newfoundland every year for Christmas. For Flo, family trumped everything and her adoring family, especially her many nieces and nephews to whom she was devoted, would count the days until her arrival and relish every moment with her. She shared her life with them, traveled with them and supported them in every way possible; she was loving, adventurous and mountainous in their eyes.
There is much to celebrate in a long and happy life, a purposeful career and an unfailing contribution to one’s family. Her nieces and nephews were, in essence, her children and their lives were lifted by her because of her unwavering interest in them. In particular, perhaps her most precious relationships were with her niece Patti Pike, whose love and support for Flo was unparalleled and with her cousin Heather (Moores) Martin, her husband Rex and their children Steven and Andrew, Flo’s family in Ottawa.
Flo was predeceased by her parents, her beloved brother John Powell Pike and sister-in-law, Florence Blackmore Pike and her dear friend Mary O’Flaherty. With lasting memories, Flo leaves her much loved brother Frank and her sister-in-law Betty Pike, her adoring nieces and nephews, Bev, Bob, Janice, Frank, Janine, Valerie and Patti, their families and many dear cousins and friends. Special thanks to Dr. Nicole Dunlop, the teams at The Redwoods, LHIN and West End Villa, Anne and James McEwen and Fiona Hennessy. Cremation, entrusted to Whelan Funeral Home, has taken place in Ottawa and a celebration of life and interment will take place at a later date in Carbonear, NL. For those wishing to remember Flo, intentional gestures of kindness, a donation to the Shriners Hospital for Children in Montreal or a children’s organization close to your heart would be appreciated.
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Flora Isabella Pike July 2 2020..
Death notice for the town of: St-John’s, Province: T-N