Yvonne Yorke Dance

Yvonne Yorke Dance passed away in Vancouver BC on December 9th, 2022 after 86 eventful years. She is survived by her two sons Mark and Adrian, daughters-in-law Christiane and Laara and grandchildren Sean, Liam, Carys and Isaac. She is remembered for her quick wit, sense of humour, mischievous nature and ability to play ‘classical air guitar’.

Yvonne was always up for a new adventure and when the opportunity came to emigrate from the UK to Canada with her husband Derrick and two young sons in tow, she jumped at it. After having experienced the modern luxury available in Canada in the mid-60s (including electric appliances!), she was hooked on becoming a true Canadian. She was the first person to storm the street cheering when Canada defeated Russia in the inaugural 1972 hockey series. Her passion for hockey extended to her beloved Toronto Maple Leafs (in the Dave Keon era), with shouts of “he’s empty” whenever a player was open in front of the net.

Moving to northern Ontario and then British Columbia allowed Yvonne to experience more of Canada. At this time, she invoked her inner ‘dog mom’ for her two, well-loved Pugs -who both responded by leaving storm clouds of hair wherever they went.

Being an adventurous soul, Yvonne travelled with her family around North America, Europe, Cuba, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. One particular ‘10 country in 10 day’ coach tour of Europe had Yvonne needing to get two drunk, male passengers back to their hotel rooms; luckily one of them was Derrick.

Yvonne possessed a deep love of flowers and nature. She could coax life out of a withered pot plant or extend the life of a bouquet of cut flowers. Another talent she had was finding just the right place around the house for yet another stone sculpture or ceramic pot, that Derrick brought home.

Gardening was her other passion besides Derrick and tending to both kept her busy for many years before she returned to the workforce, as a ladies fashion associate.

Along the way, Yvonne made many solid friends and no one could forget meeting her. She possessed a voice pitch that passed through air like a hot knife through butter; no one shared this pitch so when she entered a room, everyone was immediately aware she had arrived!

The family would like to thank the staff of South Granville Park Lodge for their loving and graceful care of our Mother/Nana.There is so much more that should be said, but in the end, what she did was make our world brighter. We love and miss you, Yvonne.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to your local charity or Alzheimer’s Society of Canada (https://alzheimer.ca/en/take-action/donate) in honour of Yvonne Dance.