Ruth Ellen Bernadine “Bonnie” Cameron, dedicated mother, educator, hockey volunteer and hummingbird lover, died on March 25 from consequences of a stroke at Lions Gate Hospital surrounded by her family. She was 82.
Bonnie was born on December 9, 1941 in Cranbrook, B.C. and grew up in the foothills of the Rockies. Her father Baron Bradford bought and cleared land to found the B.E. cattle ranch together with her mother Agnes Peterson. Agnes also worked as a schoolteacher.
Together with her sister Karen, Bonnie started school in a one room schoolhouse, graduating to a long bus ride to high school in Kimberley where the sisters were sometimes underestimated as “country bumpkins”. With the encouragement of their parents and awareness that there weren’t endless opportunities, the sisters were always top of the academic and athletic honours and went to study at University of British Columbia.
Bonnie earned a Bachelor of Education degree and began teaching alongside her lifelong friend Pat Hayward. In 1964 she married Edward Alfred Cameron, then starting his career as a timber executive.
They lived in London, UK and enjoyed theatre in the West End and the culture of the metropolis. Bonnie enjoyed driving Grasshopper Green, their MGB sports car on country roads. Together with her younger sister Diane squished into the half sized back seat, the three of them made a tour over Hamburg to Sweden to see where her mother’s family emigrated from.
Back in London in November 1969 came Heather. In 1972 Baron came into the world in Greenwich, Connecticut. Back in Canada, Ted and Bonnie bought a house in Caulfeild, West Vancouver to raise their family. Along came David in 1975 and Janice in 1979.
Bonnie delighted her children with healthy meals, breakfast milkshakes and treats like teddy bear and train birthday cakes, no bake cookies, Rice Krispie squares and her peerless pancakes. She drove all over to take her kids to hockey, ringette, cross country, and highland games. More than once she was stopped for speeding. Bonnie stayed up late with her sewing machine making her kids corduroy outfits, flannel nighties, and proudly sewing on swimming badges and name patches on team jackets. She encouraged her children to take academics seriously and was proud to see them all finish their university degrees.
Bonnie was a person ready to help others. Her aunt shared that as a young girl Bonnie, when asked what she wanted to play, answered “Let’s go clean out the barn.” A recent highlight was her road trip to Penticton with son David to accept a BC Hockey Lifetime Member award. She was also very proud of her PCAHA service. She spent over forty years supporting kids and coaches in ice rinks all over the province. Bonnie could be found many evenings on the phone with irate coaches and resolute referees deciding appeals on major match penalties. These adjudication committees were a good fit for her reputation for thoroughness and fairness. Bonnie said she wanted to be a lawyer in another life. Bonnie chaired the scholarship committee and enjoyed writing short personal introductions to each player.
Bonnie earned a Masters of Education degree from UBC and an ESL and Pacific Rim graduate certificate. Learning on flash cards, Bonnie would tell a story to help her memorize the Chinese characters. The symbol for “relax” she explained was a stick person on a lounge chair with a beach umbrella. She valued hard work, self-reliance, making the most of opportunities and just “getting on with it”. She would be tested by many losses in a short time.
Her parents Agnes and Baron died 1990 and 1992.
Edward Cameron died in 1992 of a stroke and Bonnie kept things going for her 3 kids still living at home. Her sister Diane died in 2006.
After a few years as a substitute teacher, Bonnie started teaching again full time with grade ¾ split classes. She said it was the perfect age as her charges were old enough to learn something, and young enough to still listen to directions. She kept running in the Sun Run and Terry Fox Run in her 60s. At 75 years of age Bonnie finally retired from teaching.
After running came walking and an Apple watch. Bonnie loved tracking steps and closing circles - trekking 10 000 steps daily through the hills of Caulfeild or the Sea Wall often with friends, her daughter, and a beloved dog. Kira and Brandy were great companions and in these last 2 years, Betty kept her company out on the road.
At home Bonnie loved gardening and had spectacular beds of peonies and dahlias. She made beautiful tumbling hanging baskets and delighted in the hummingbirds who came to visit them and her feeder. For the last decade, Bonnie had been fighting with her lawn, or better the Chafer beetles that killed off patches of it. In her late seventies neighbours would see Bonnie pushing her lawn mower and shovelling snow with the help of Baron her son.
Her eightieth birthday party brought friends and family from across the province and around the world to celebrate with now 4 grandchildren. Old and new friends shared stories, photographs and laughs.
In September 2022 Bonnie suffered an aneurysm. She worked her way back into shape with admirable determination and commitment and moved in with her daughter Janice’s family in North Vancouver. She cheered on her grandsons Evan and Eli at hockey games and picked up younger grandkids Cameron and Josie regularly from school. Janice and Bonnie enjoyed many walks, Costco runs, and visiting open houses on the North Shore. Bonnie was able to help Janice move her family into their beautiful forever home at the start of March.
On 21 March, out having her treasured walk, Bonnie had a fall and second stroke. She died March 25 at LGH.
Bonnie is survived by her 4 children, 4 grandchildren and sister.
Note that we are asking people in lieu of flowers to consider making a donation to a fund for a hockey scholarship.
They can donate by e transfer to [email protected]
100% of collected donations will be forwarded to the PCAHA (Pacific Coast Amateur Hockey Association) to fund this scholarship. As PCAHA is not a registered charity, donation receipts will not be available.
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