Nora Catherine Lawrence

Nora’s long and loving life ended peacefully, watched over by Anna, David, & Mike – and their sorrow is tempered by the living memory of her warmth and strength.

Born the youngest of five she grew up in the lovely Irish town of Wexford and she was educated at the Loretto convent where she was head girl. There she picked up, among other things both a love of music and the trick of benignly managing people – an art she refined running Mike’s busy medical practice, a growing family, and a world of friendships that extended across Canada to far beyond.

Nora lived in Paris and Seville as a young woman - trained as a radiographer at the Royal London Hospital where she met Mike, got engaged - and then they both came to Vancouver, starting work at Vancouver General Hospital in 1965.

Yet she never forgot Ireland, returning when she could, to family and familiar places.

Vancouver was kind to Nora, and she loved the city & the friends she met. She cooked naturally & expertly, played tennis well – and in later life became an avid golfer.

Although the last few years of her life were laced with tough medical challenges, she had a knack for facing them directly - and successfully re-inventing herself in spite of their limitations. She was also really fortunate to have been cared for by the kindest of doctors, including Drs Joanne Irwin, Graham Wong, Clark Funnell, Ian McCarthy, Jonathan Misskey, Charles Haw & Noelle Davis - and by so many great VGH ward nurses.

Nora will be sadly missed by her many friends – and especially by her sister Una Demian in Cleveland, and by her family in Ireland, including sister Delma Wilson, and brothers Niall and Paddy Doris.

Nora’s funeral will be held at Immaculate Conception Church, 3778 West 28 Avenue at 11 am on Saturday, November 20, 2021 - masks must be worn in the church and the family asks that attendees at the funeral be fully vaccinated.

The service will be live streamed for those unable to attend in person and may be accessed as of 10:50 am on the day by copy/pasting the following web address into any web browser: tiny.cc/NoraLawrence

Condolences may be shared at dignitymemorial.ca – while in lieu of flowers donations may be made to the charity of your choice.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.vancouvercrematorium.com for the Lawrence family.