Pat Tieleman - my inspiration - has passed away

Pat Tieleman with son Bill - 1962

Dear friends:

I have lost my dear mother Pat Tieleman this afternoon - an inspiration all my life.

My brothers Ralph and Jack and I were with her when she passed peacefully from this world.

Thank you from my brothers, my wife Shirley, daughter Erin and all our families for your support during this difficult time when Pat courageously battled lung cancer.

Her amazing strength and her ability to maintain not only her composure but a wicked sense of humour right to the end will stay with us the rest of our own lives.

Pat Tieleman left this world a better place with her strong commitment to community and social justice while teaching her children well.

You who are on the road
Must have a code that you can live by
And so become yourself
Because the past is just a good bye.

Teach your children well

- Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Pat Tieleman - rest in peace - April 18, 1927 - May 26, 2010

The following is Pat Tieleman's obituary, which will be published in newspapers in Nanaimo, Tofino and Ucluelet on June 3rd & 4th.

Tieleman, Patricia

Pat Tieleman passed away May 26, 2010 with her sons Bill, Ralph and Jack at her side in the Palliative Care unit of Nanaimo Regional General Hospital after a short, courageous fight with lung cancer.

Pat was born on April 18, 1927 in Burnaby, much loved by parents Violet and William Baseley.

Pat attended David Lloyd George Elementary and graduated from Magee High School in 1944. She became a Registered Nurse in 1948, graduating from St. Paul’s School of Nursing and completed her post-graduate studies at the University of Chicago, specializing in obstetrics. She also worked in Chicago and Seattle, including at the Group Health Clinic cooperative.

In 1955 her sense of adventure led to nursing in Port Alice, Vancouver Island, where she met RCMP constable Harry Tieleman, the last navigator of the famous RCMP ship the St. Roch when it returned from Halifax to Vancouver through the Panama Canal. Pat and Harry married in 1956.

Sons Bill, Ralph and Jack were born as the family moved to Richmond, then Vancouver and later Abbotsford.

In 1972 the family relocated in Tofino, B.C. where Pat worked in the hospital, Co-Op store, and later the post office while Harry ran Tofino Motors and Happy Harry’s Restaurant. In 1989 they retired to Nanaimo, B.C.

Retirement did not slow Pat down – if anything she was more active as a volunteer. Pat worked with Nanaimo Planned Parenthood, the Thrifty Food’s Sendial delivery program, and to elect NDP MLA Leonard Krog and NDP MP Jean Crowder. Pat also belonged to a widows’ support group, a book club and was a generous donor to many worthy charities.

Pat was predeceased by Harry in 2000 and is survived by sons Bill [Shirley Ross], Ralph, Jack [Janice Porteous], granddaughter Erin Ross Coward, sister-in-law Col Vander Lee in Holland and many cousins around the world.

The family wish to thank all the wonderful staff at the Palliative Care unit, including Dr. Spry and nurses Carol, Annabelle, Angela, Penny, Georgina and Sandra – you made Pat’s final days the best possible and our time with her precious.

Also thanks to Dr. Digney, nurse Claire, Dr. Elekiaby, Pat’s GP Dr. Weisenburger and all others at NRGH who helped care for her. Special thanks to Pat’s friend Noreen Rourke, who was a godsend to her and our family in time of need.

We appreciate all who visited, sent flowers, cards and messages.

By her request there will be no service but Pat said: "Thanks to all my steadfast friends."

Pat and Harry loved Buttertubs Marsh – an amazing oasis of wildlife and nature – in the heart of Nanaimo, so those wishing to honour Pat’s memory can donate to: "The Nanaimo & Area Land Trust – Buttertubs – In Trust", at Nanaimo & Area Land Trust, #8-140 Wallace Street
Nanaimo, BC V9R 5B1.

Charitable tax receipts will be provided for contributions of $25 or more if requested.

Pat loved the works of William Shakespeare all her life and each summer attended Vancouver’s Bard on the Beach to enjoy a play. One of her favourites was The Tempest and as the play nears its conclusion, we remember Pat in our hearts forever:

Prospero:

Our revels now are ended. These our actors
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air…..We are such stuff
As dreams are made on; and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.

* * * * * *