Birgit Rehn
Sept 29th, 1937 – Feb 18,2020
Birgit was born Sept 29, 1937 in Alvkarleby, Sweden and sadly passed away on February 18, 2020. She was proudly Canadian and Swedish. In the summer of 1966, Birgit along with her husband and her son Mats, spent a family vacation in Vancouver and decided to stay. She was a fan of hockey, tennis, football and most other sports. She enjoyed baking, gardening, puzzles and feeding birds.
~ Mats Rehn
Quiet Reflections Around the Art Table
Every Thursday at 10am, Birgit sat beside me at the art table. She was a sweet, gentle spirit with so much kindness in her heart. She would share stories about her life in Sweden, about meeting her husband while dancing and about her love for watching tennis. She had so much appreciation for her family, especially her son Mats. When she first joined the art group, she would always say “I’m not an artist, I don’t know what to do!” I started her off slowly and gave her a pre-drawn mandala to color in. After weeks of careful coloring, she was able to finish it and was so incredibly proud. Eventually, I introduced her to more projects. By the end, she had just about experimented with every art material – paint, crayons, pencils, chalk, collage, etc. Her art folder was bursting full of different creations. She always had such strong determination to finish her artwork by the end of the hour, even though she had a sore arm. One time, I told her she only had 5 minutes left and she said “ok, I better hurry, I’m going to finish it!” Somehow, she always did. By the end, we had developed a really close relationship, sitting side by side every week sharing our art and heart with each other. When the transit strike was happening or when the snow storm hit, she would say to me “I was thinking about you and was wondering if you would be able to come to work today.” Her constant care about my well-being always warmed my heart. I will definitely miss her but am so grateful I got to spend so much time with her. I will always be inspired by her heart and spirit.
~ Erica Pang, Art Therapist
Bill Krane
Jan 28th, 1949 – Feb 4th, 2020
Bill has been a member of the North Shore Stroke Recovery Centre since Jan 2019. He was a regular participant on Mondays and Wednesdays at the centre. Always a gentleman, kind and thankful for any help given, and an avid member of the crossword puzzle group and music therapy.
Born in Toronto Ontario, Bill had a brilliant intellect and worked as a psychology professor at SFU and most recently at UNBC. He enjoyed watching sports, going to Canucks games, movies, playing card and fine dining. His favorite trip was to Turkey. He never lost his desire for fine dining and enjoyed going out with family, friends or the Stroke Group outings for meals. Bill loved his wife and sons dearly and was often known to refer to them when at the Stroke Centre. He also loved to follow the hockey career of his one grand-son Riley.
In his own words the best thing that ever happened to him was “meeting his wife Diane”. Diane says Bill wanted us to know how he greatly enjoyed the groups and all the members at NSSRC. We will miss him at the center and all of the family is close in our thoughts.
~ Sue Carabetta