Catherine Jean Rahme

She will be deeply missed by her children and their spouses; Ann (Rob), Melissa (Jonathan) and Tom (Sarah), and by her grandchildren Nicola, Jacob, Liam and Ethan. Catherine will also be lovingly remembered by her large extended family, both here in BC and in Ontario. She is predeceased by her husband of 48 years Roy William Rahme (2008), by all of her siblings and their spouses; Mary Bailey (Jim), Tom Gledhill (Barbara), Eleanor Marsh (Jim), and by her nephews Peter Gledhill and Bruce Marsh, her nieces Janet and Margaret Bailey, and her grandnieces Carly Gledhill and Katie Byles.

Catherine was born to Helen Blair and Thomas Lloyd Gledhill in 1932 in Toronto, along with her twin sister Eleanor. She had fond memories of growing up in Whitby, Ontario and kept up with close friends from that time. She also had a deep attachment to the town of Kincardine on Lake Huron where her beloved mother Helen grew up and lived in her later years, and where she treasured spending time with her siblings and their families at their cottage.

Mom and Dad married in Kincardine in 1960, and moved to the west, settling in West Vancouver, where they raised us. She devoted herself to being a mother, volunteering in the community, and creating a warm beautiful home in our heritage house. She graduated from Ryerson Polytechnic in Interior Design in her 20s, and re-entered that profession in her 50s. Throughout her life, she was passionate about design and about creating beauty through décor, gardening, and the fabric arts.

Catherine was an artist at heart, a generous romantic, a funny non-linear thinker and the strong spiritual center of our family. She had a knack for unconditional love, a strong faith in herself and steadfast belief that Good/god was always present. “To thine own self be true” was her lifelong motto, and we are grateful that she shared that wonderful “self” so generously with her family, friends and everyone she met. She remains forever in our hearts and will be dearly missed.

We want to especially thank the staff at Eden Gardens Compassionate Dementia Care home and Dr. Erfan Javaheri for taking loving care of our mother in the last 10 years of her life in Nanaimo. An extra special thanks to her friend/companion Gordon Grant for filling her last years with kindness, fun and humour. In lieu of flowers we ask that donations be made the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Mental Health Association.

A memorial service will be held on November 5, 2023 at West Vancouver United Church, 2062 Esquimalt Ave, West Vancouver. Time to be announced at a later date.