Phyllis "Phyl" Anne (née McLorg) Greenaway

Her father died when she was only six, and the family moved to Vancouver where Phyl attended a series of Catholic private schools. The combination of Catholic and British influences shaped her but didn't restrain her spirited and adventurous approach to life.

She met the love of her life, Lorne Greenaway, as the result of a blind date and married him only months later, in 1956. As a newly minted RN, Phyl moved to Guelph, Ontario to be with him while he completed his degree at Ontario Veterinary College. Barely within the requisite number of months, they started a family. Immediately upon Lorne's graduation in 1958, they moved back to BC, making their home in Kamloops.

Phyl was soon a full-time mom to four children and, despite her refined upbringing, became an accomplished and resourceful housewife. Lorne turned out to be a somewhat restless partner, and Phyl became adept at moving house and starting over. They built a summer cabin on Shuswap Lake which became a touchstone for the family, providing stability and treasured memories. With one eye to making sure none of the kids drowned or got injured, Phyl turned out decades’ worth of celebratory meals there, often topped off with her signature raspberry shortcake or pumpkin pie.

One of their more adventurous moves took them to a cattle ranch in the Chilcotin where Phyl became a true rancher's wife—comfortable on horseback, ferociously productive in the garden and kitchen, and industrious in a home with no electricity, no telephone, very little money, and very cold and isolated winters. And still, she maintained a relentless influence on the children around table manners, deportment, and the proper use of the Queen's English.

Unstoppable and ambitious, she spotted an opportunity on Peter Gzowski's CBC radio program and, through his contacts with a producer in California, single-handedly launched a breakfast cereal business called Greenaway Granola. It was the first of its kind in BC, carried by Woodward’s stores and others across BC and Alberta. The eventual sale of the company led to a small windfall that allowed her to invest in her own priorities – the kids got braces on their teeth, and Phyl began to dabble (successfully) in the stock market.

In 1979, Lorne was elected to the House of Commons as the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Cariboo-Chilcotin. Phyl was the quintessential politician's wife—savvy, tireless, and competitive. And she was ready for city life! For several years, she had been quietly studying for her stockbroker’s license, and once they were settled in Ottawa, Phyl became one of the first women ever hired by Dominion Securities as a broker. She and Lorne spent ten absorbing and exhausting years in Ottawa before Lorne chose to leave public life, and gratefully, they returned to BC.

They settled in Victoria, where they were embraced by a wonderful community of friends and spent over two decades enjoying a fulfilling retirement. Tennis, bridge, travel, and volunteer work kept Phyl healthy, happy, and very busy. Lorne's death from ALS in 2010 turned Phyl's life upside down, and, to be honest, she never really recovered. She tried valiantly to press on, determined to be one of those women who remain fully engaged in life after widowhood. She had, however, lost her anchor. She spent her last several years in the excellent care of the staff at Avenir Memory Care facility in Nanaimo, where—even as her memory faded—her fundamental warmth and interest in people shone. Nothing could diminish her social charm or her ability to make everyone feel like dear and special friends.

Phyl will be remembered as a unique combination of delightfully impetuous and doggedly determined, fiercely independent and terrifyingly intelligent, capable of being your biggest fan and your toughest critic in the same breath. Her remarkable journey from nurse to rancher's wife to entrepreneur to stockbroker exemplified a life lived with courage, adaptability, and an unwavering spirit.

Left to swap stories about our unforgettable Phyl are daughter Kate, her husband Don, and their son Udom; son Terry, his wife Jeong Ah, and their son Daewon; son Steven, his wife Teresa, their daughter Olivia and her son Everett, their son Ben and his partner Skyler; son Tom; and brother Roger McLorg. Awaiting her in the great “wherever” are her beloved Lorne; her siblings Mary (McLorg) Hill, Terry McLorg, and Tony McLorg; a welcoming party of Labrador retrievers; and a rowdy assembly of friends rolling out the welcome mat to the bridge table and the scotch bar.