Donelda Parker
August 16th, 1936
–
October 20th, 2022
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Donelda Joan Parker (nee Knight), born in Meaford ON, passed peacefully at her home in Vancouver BC, with family at her side, on October 20, 2022 at the age of 86.
Donelda earned a Master’s degree in Nursing, and in addition to her clinical work, she shared her knowledge through teaching and research in university and hospital settings in Canada and abroad. Over her long and satisfying career, she held faculty positions at the University of British Columbia and University of Alberta, Australia Advanced Education College in Canberra, and Guru Nanak College of Nursing in Punjab, India, and served as Acting Principal at the Church of England Mission Hospital School of Nursing in Wusasa, Nigeria.
Raised in a musical family, Donelda studied piano in her youth and maintained a lifelong passion for classical music as a listener, chorister and accompanist. Her creativity extended to a variety of needlecrafts, and she was a prolific seamstress. Always full of energy and movement, Donelda enjoyed walking, cycling, badminton, and gardening, fueled by a daily scoop (or two) of ice cream. Donelda was an active member of every church community to which she belonged, especially that of Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver, whose commitment to fellowship, inclusiveness, and social outreach was dear to her heart. She took on many leadership roles, but equally embraced opportunities to deepen her faith through book and bible study groups.
Donelda will be missed and remembered not only as an accomplished individual, but as a loving and supportive parent and grandparent.
Donelda leaves behind her two children, Mark Ellis and Niko Knight; two grandchildren, Alistair Kornelsen (Alison) and Matthew Ellis; brother Allan Knight (Jane) and sister Geraldine Kunica (Richard), and many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her husband, Walter Parker, and her grandson, Isaak Kornelsen.
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Donelda Parker August 16th 1936
October 20th 2022..
Death notice for the town of: Maple Ridge, Province: Colombie britanique
death notice Donelda Parker August 16th 1936
October 20th 2022
mortuary notice Donelda Parker August 16th 1936
October 20th 2022
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I would like to send my sympathies to the family of Donelda. We were cousins growing up together in Meaford and I have many pleasant memories of her. We were badminton partners, of course she was the athletic one of the two of us but she never complained and I enjoyed it. I have not seen her since the all school reunion in 1991. We had a pleasant interchange on the computer last January. I will miss her. May your many memories help during this time.
Maureen Knight Dunaway
I am so very sorry to hear this news. Donelda has been a beloved and valued member of our UBC School of Nursing community for as long as I can remember. She faithfully attended School gatherings and galas, stayed connected with her colleagues, and was always a bright light of enthusiastic support. So many memories of her warmth, her intelligence, the twinkle in her eye, her spirit of adventure, and the passion for women’s health and breastfeeding practice that she passed on to the generations of future nurses she taught. May her memory be a blessing for the family as you go through this time of loss. She was a special one.
I was a classmate of Donelda’s at the Atkinson School of Nursing, Toronto Western Hospital, 1958. We both went on to Western University for a year and were 2 of 5 who shared an enormous one room apartment in a large old home. At night all 5 of us slept in the same room – 2 in a Murphy Bed, several on couches, and 1 on a cot. It was quite an experience!
Since I am in Toronto, and Donelda was in Vancouver, we lost touch, but over the last 10 years reconnected when I visited my daughter in Kitsilano. Before the pandemic we also connected with another classmate, Beth Lawson Jones and enjoyed reminiscing about the “good old days”.
With sympathy to her family.