Jean Theresa Callaghan

Jean was born in Alberton, Prince Edward Island, on November 28, 1929, a daughter and the youngest child of Austin and Jane Murphy. Jean died on May 18, 2022 in North Vancouver. Arriving into the world on the Eve of the Great Depression, Jean grew up in a world where she learned to love life through all the natural beauty it had to offer. She lived a "stone's throw" to the ocean and delighted in the rare occasions when her father, a lobster fisherman, would allow her and her sister to accompany him on his boat, whereby they could cradle in the cabin below with the waves of the North Atlantic rocking them to sleep at night. Jean loved cats and they became her childhood companions. She also loved birds and birdsong, and little birds would tap their beaks on the kitchen window in North Vancouver until they got her attention and she went outside to feed them.

Jean was nine years old when Canada entered WWII and her brothers left to join the Navy, and her sisters scattered around to various cities, mostly to the USA. The few who had moved to NYC brought her for a visit soon after they moved there and she was dazzled by city life - so many people, so much vibrancy, so many things to do, ice skating on Rockefeller Center rink, a stark contrast to the inauspicious environs of Alberton, P.E.I. She would forever afterward chart her life to live in the city, moving to Montreal soon after she married and later on, to Vancouver. Jean worked for Pratt & Whitney in Montreal and for ICBC for many years after moving to Vancouver. Always fiercely independent, after moving to Vancouver, and not having access to the buses and subways she relied upon in Montreal, she took pride in obtaining her drivers' license in her fifties and driving her own car.

Jean was the quintessential ideal Mother, making sure her family was well cared for and that they felt unconditional love. She was a terrific cook and the family center was first and foremost, the table.

She had a gentle demeanor, Maritime affability, terrific sense of humor and a kind word, warm smile and embrace for everyone she encountered. She was deeply loved by all who knew her. Always ready for a good time, she was happiest with a room full of people, whereupon she would pull out her guitar and start playing and singing until everyone else was feeling happy too and singing along.

She dearly loved life and was an incorrigible optimist.

Predeceased by her husband, William Callaghan, and her siblings; she is survived by her children, Frank (Elaine), Christine (Kevin), Carolann, Kelly (Ken), William and Norman (Suzanne). She also leaves her adored grandchildren; Sean, Sarah, Brooke and Aidan, and one great-grandchild, Liam. She was also predeceased by her son-in-law Gary, and her grandson, Jason.

Funeral Mass will take place on Saturday, May 28, at 10:00 a.m. at St. Edmund's Catholic Church on Mahon Avenue in North Vancouver.

If I can stop one heart from breaking,

I shall not live in vain;

If I can ease one life the aching,

Or cool one pain,

Or help the fainting robin

Unto his nest again,

I shall not live in vain. ~ Emily Dickinson

This is the comfort of the godly: the grave cannot hold them, and they live as soon as they die.

For Death is no more than turning us over from time to eternity

- William Penn

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firstmemorialnorthvancouver.com