Mrs. Corlynn Hanney

Corlynn Ramsay (Hanney) passed away peacefully on December 15, 2020. Coronavirus ended her long battle with Lewy Body Dementia. Predeceased by her husband Miles and son Ethan, Corlynn will be lovingly remembered by her children Angela Hartley, Sara (Steve) Ramsay, and Josh (Amanda) Ramsay, grandchildren Margo, Molly, Annie, Talia, Monty, and Chloe, and step-mother Shendra Hanney.

A Celebration of Life will be held at a later time (TBA), once we can safely gather in groups again. If friends so desire, memorial donations may be made to the Lewy Body Dementia Association at https://www.lbda.org/donate in lieu of flowers.

Corlynn was born March 3, 1945, daughter of a violinist and pianist, and a true third generation Vancouverite. Her father Collin launched his boat, Balandra, the same year, and Corlynn took her first sea voyage at the age of 3 months. Her mother, Sharen, used to talk about washing Corlynn’s nappies over the side and hanging them up on the halyards to dry, as Corlynn napped in the tiny forepeak. With that voyage, a love of the sea, boats, and all things water-based began.

Corlynn grew up on the Eastside of Vancouver, attending John Oliver High School as an ace student, athlete, and of course, musician, and spending many summer months up on the Sunshine Coast of BC at her family’s boat-access only property and sailing the waters of BC. Her parents owned Noah’s Ark, a pet store in downtown Vancouver, and Corlynn took on a lot of responsibility in the store at an early age.

After earning her Bachelor of Music degree from UBC, Corlynn began a lifelong career in music that encompassed some pretty amazing musical experiences. She sang backup vocals for Leonard Cohen on the Songs of Love and Hate record, and toured extensively with him, including the iconic Isle of Wight performance. Corlynn was part of a folk pop group aptly named The Groop, which provided some of the soundtrack for the movie Midnight Cowboy. As a member of the Jimmy Joyce Singers, she appeared on shows including The Tim Conway Show, and The Smothers Brothers Show, with Nancy Sinatra and the Muppets. Corlynn had the opportunity to sing backup for artists including Tom Jones, and the Fifth Dimension.

A performance career ultimately took a back seat to having a family, but Corlynn’s career as a session singer continued for decades to come. She sang backups for a multitude of artists including Leonard Cohen, The Fifth Dimension, Ann Mortifee, Shari Ulrich, The Payolas, and Al Martino. Corlynn’s voice could also regularly be heard in advertising. The “You got it Pontiac” catchphrase may have appeared to come out of the mouth of any one of a number of models, but it was always Corlynn’s voice. She also sang for a number of clients over the years including Pontiac, Datsun, Lotteries, Kodak, Kraft, Milk, Air Canada, and list of others too numerous to name.

Corlynn met her husband Miles while working on a number of TV shows for the CBC in Vancouver. The Let’s Go Show, Up Up and Away, and working with the Numerality Singers, the shows reproduced the popular songs of the day with a group of in-house singers, all for a weekly television audience. Working with some other singers who were also to become lifelong friends, Brian Griffiths (who also sang in The Groop), Brian Gibson, Howie Vickers, Miles Ramsay, and others, many from this group of young singers would go on to be the backbone of the young advertising industry in Vancouver, whether as creators or as core voice talent.

As Corlynn’s family life developed, her career as a session singer continued, and she started taking on voice students. This led to a whole new aspect of her career as the go-to voice teacher for the “rock and rollers”, an area of voice instruction that really didn’t exist up to that point. Voice instruction had long been based in classical music, and Corlynn created a niche for translating that information and applying it to contemporary music, working with some very high profile artists in the process. Along the way, she began teaching in a classroom setting, creating and/or expanding vocal departments at ICA, Capilano College Jazz Studies Program, and VCC.

Perhaps Corlynn’s greatest professional legacy is the vast number of students whose lives she impacted so greatly, on both personal and professional levels. Students were often invited to the house for orphan’s holiday dinners, or a BBQ and lively game of volleyball in the front yard, and Corlynn always made them feel welcome and loved, even if they were hundreds of miles away from their own families. There are a great many singers and music teachers who can trace the seeds of their careers back in one form or another to Corlynn.

Corlynn had a love for choral music that began in childhood, progressed through her UBC days with the Chamber Singers, and continued throughout her adult life. She sang for a number of years with Elektra Women’s Choir, and was a founding member of Little Mountain Singers. Corlynn was incredibly proud of the 20+ years she spent as a member of Phoenix Chamber Choir, singing both at home and touring abroad. Over the years, Corlynn wrote a number of Christmas songs whose arrangements have been published by Cypress Publishing, and are perennial Christmas favourites with choirs around the world.

Corlynn was a talented songwriter as well as singer, and released a few notable singles. She won the West Coast Songwriter’s Competition with the song “It Oughta Be Me,” and her song “Heaven in Your Arms” reached number 6 on the Canadian charts. In 2004, Corlynn released a full-length album of spiritually-based songs called “Shine”. At the time of that release, Corlynn was a regular musical guest at Unity Church in Vancouver, and her songs “Pirouettes on Heaven’s Steps” and “Breath of God” were oft-requested favourites.

Although Corlynn had a great many professional accomplishments very much worth recognizing, she always felt that her greatest accomplishment was her family. Miles and Corlynn raised 3 children together, Angela, Sara, and Josh. They lost another child, Ethan, in 1977, at the age of 11 months, after complications from heart surgery related to Down’s Syndrome. Family time spent sailing the waters of BC, skiing at Whistler, with dear friends and family on the annual Osoyoos vacation and trips to Hawaii, scuba diving in the waters of BC with friends who became like family, dinners/wine/jam-making with her dear friend Sheila Thornton (who conveniently lived at the other end of the block), camping, and hanging out up on the Sunshine Coast...these were the moments that mattered most of all. She was so incredibly proud of each and every one of her kids, and truly cherished time with her grandchildren.

Corlynn had a very funny sense of humour, reveling in the silly. Long before her memory started to go, she made up her own words, and these actually became part of the Ramsay family lexicon, many still in use to this day. Her crystal clear laugh was a welcome and familiar sound to all who knew her.

Corlynn also had a deep and enduring love for her dogs. Over the years, there were many, including Da Mama, Clementine, and Joe Cocker. But Sam, Dixie, and Phoebe stand out in recent memory as the dogs that occupied a great deal of her love and attention, as her children grew into adults and left the nest. Corlynn would often worry about being away from them for too long, and had a special and enduring love for her constant companions.

In 2004, Corlynn began building a house up on her family’s land on the Sunshine Coast, fulfilling her dream of retiring to the Coast. She and Miles lived there for a few happy years before signs of her disease began to emerge. In late 2010 her symptoms really began to accelerate, though she was still undiagnosed at the time. In March of 2012, Corlynn received the diagnosis of Lewy Body Dementia. Although it was scary, it was not entirely unfamiliar, as her mother had experienced the same undiagnosed progression. Family and friends gathered near to offer love and support as she navigated the next several years.

In 2014, Miles and Corlynn moved back to Vancouver to be closer to family and medical care. In 2016, Corlynn moved into full time care at Arbutus Long Term Care facility, before Miles ultimately joined her there as roommates in 2019. The family is grateful for all the care and support that friends have offered through this long and difficult progression.