CHURCHILL, Beryl Ellen and Lorne Winston

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The verb to love is difficult to teach. Love is taught by example, compromise, putting someone else’s needs above your own, feeling gratitude for their existence, being open to vulnerability.

These two people taught us kids, and so many others, the action of loving.

Stephen Colbert said, “Everyone experiences grief….if you’re lucky….if you love someone enough….”

Lorne Winston Churchill, CGA, CPA “won the race” on JAN 17, 2026 with loving wife Beryl Ellen Churchill “crossing the finish line” shortly after on FEB 11, 2026, merely 3.5 weeks apart.

Although they both grew up in challenging circumstances, it is their 70 years of love and commitment, their dedication to hard work, their strong ethical values and their wisdom, freely shared with others, that is their legacy.

Lorne and Beryl encouraged their children to pursue excellence in a variety of disciplines: Science, Math, Music, Business, Reading, Sports, Theatre and Dance.

Although they imbued strong moral values and a strong work ethic in their offspring, they made a rare parenting choice – to give their children the freedom and independence to choose their own political, religious and sexual preferences.

In the chaos of our current world, such wisdom is a rarity. Seventy years spent together is an anomaly.  Our inheritance is the wisdom and knowledge they shared…

LORNE’S EARLY LIFE…

Lorne was born OCT 28,1933 in Vancouver, BC and grew up in Woodfibre, a small pulp-and-paper town off the Sunshine Coast, accessible only by boat. Woodfibre was a harsh logging camp where Lorne’s father, Winston Spencer Churchill, was stationed as a tugboat Captain on the Howe Sound.

Lorne was a sensitive and intelligent child, surviving in a challenging environment. When his Japanese school mates, along with their parents, were interned in camps during WWII, the town’s population was decimated. Lorne’s family then left Woodfibre for Vancouver in May, 1944. Lorne was only 10 years old and his sister Elaine, 7 years older, had already set off on her own.

After bouncing around for a few weeks, the family landed in a flat in the back of a store on West Broadway, just up from the corner of MacDonald. He attended General Gordon Elementary School, then Kitsilano High School in 1946. Lorne loved that school. He played Alto Saxophone in Arthur Delamont’s renowned Kitsilano Boys Band, offering him an opportunity to travel to California and play the Hollywood Bowl at 13 yrs old!

Lorne was President of South House, had a daily paper route on 4^th Ave delivering The Province, hit Kits beach and Kits pool during summer holidays and, after adding clarinet to his achievements, Lorne started gigging professionally at 15 yrs old! He used to have to remove himself from clubs on breaks, as he was underage. Recently, a photo emerged of Louis Armstrong playing at the infamous Kits High, with Dad seen on stage in the background!

He made friends in high school, like Gordie Moffat and Shirley Martin, who remained close throughout his life. In June, 1951, he graduated from Kits High and went to work at Dominion Bridge where he met Beryl.

Work was his only choice, as his dad had passed away just a few short months after Lorne’s high school graduation. Later, he attended Night School at UBC to obtain his CGA designation and become an accountant. Along with some fellow students, they created a study group called “The Way Out Seven”, remaining friends for over 60 yrs after graduation!

In the meantime, he married Beryl, which he called “a brilliant accomplishment.”

BERYL’S EARLY LIFE…

Beryl was born JUL 9,1935 in Vancouver and grew up in East Vancouver, the only girl amongst 5 older brothers. Her father died when she was 6, leaving her mother to raise 6 children on her own.

While going to Woodland and Lord Nelson Elementary Schools, Beryl studied Highland Dance with Phyllis Thompson, placing 3^rd in her 1^st Highland Dancing competition, and later obtaining many more Dance Medals from the BC Highland Dance Association.

During her years at Templeton Secondary and Britannia High School, Beryl was a cheerleader. She worked after school at a corner store on Woodland and Gravely, but her summers were busy, working at the PNE. There she sold cotton candy and ran carnival booths, while also being featured as a poster girl in their advertising, as she was so pretty! Our entire lives, she never told anyone. I found the newspaper clipping cleaning out her belongings.

Beryl also taught Sunday School, bowled, and enjoyed lots of late nights and parties! She was clever and witty, curvaceous and pretty.

After graduation, Beryl obtained a job at Dominion Bridge where she met Lorne. She never boasted, but her diary confirmed she was very popular, with many boys pursuing her. However, she was smitten with Lorne. Their first date was at the Dog House, with more dates to see the latest movies such as “The Glenn Miller Story”, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” and “White Christmas”. Their dates continued in such historical venues as The Cave Supper Club, the Embassy, the original White Spot, and the Commodore.

Lorne also treated her to a concert, to see his favourite, Stan Kenton’s Big Band, as well as Harry James!

THEIR LIVES TOGETHER

1950’s

Beryl and Lorne married at 19 yrs and 21 yrs respectively.

They bought their first home in Vancouver for $5600! Both were in Night School when Lorne became Comptroller at Public Freightways.

1960’s

Together, they bought and ran the Tara Supper Club in White Rock for 1961 to ‘63, employing musicians along with kitchen and wait staff, all while Beryl was pregnant with her youngest and raising two little boys! After it was sold, Beryl started as a Telephone Operator at BC Tel, working nights and overtime to bring in extra money.

They raised three kids (Lorne, Bruce and Ellen) in Whalley, a tough neighbourhood, but befriended great neighbours who remained lifelong friends. Lorne set up a little pool, 2 ft high, in the driveway in their backyard, the only one on the block, and all the neighbourhood kids came over to swim.

In the Surrey house, Lorne installed a bedroom and bathroom downstairs for his mother and the two boys poked holes in the newly installed insulation. They liked the feeling, so did it to every panel as high as they could reach, costing him days of repair.

They housed Lorne’s mother for over 25 yrs, who had not been supportive of their relationship, and had refused to come to their wedding! Yes, Beryl was a saint.

Over and above work, Lorne coached Little League, drove to 4AM hockey practices and soccer practices, sometimes napping in the car. Beryl took her youngest to ballet, tap, jazz, and figure skating. Lorne played catch and football in the back yard with the boys, after digging out and installing a sump pump to drain the boggy back yard. They both attended track meets, performances, swim meets, ballet exams.

Lorne played clarinet and sax in the Pit Band for his daughter’s High School Musicals as well as still gigging with veteran Kelowna Musicians in a Big Band.

All their kids learned to play instruments, performing in the living room with Lorne on Alto Sax, playing along to Music Minus One records long before karaoke was the craze.

Even into adulthood, both attended many of their daughter’s professional gigs as a singer…always so supportive.

1970’s

In 1972, Lorne moved the family to Kamloops to enter Public Accounting Practice, forming “Cope, Churchill & Co.” with Barry Cope.

He became a Gyro, took his kids fishing, as well as those of family friends.

Lorne’s son met a young guy on the bus coming home from University one Christmas. The lad was attempting to get home to Ontario, and with little money, he had made it to Kamloops. His plan was to hitchhike, in December, across Canada.

As a Dad, Lorne would have none of that and brought him home to spend Christmas with the family. Mom (Beryl) asked us each to forfeit a gift so the young lad could have presents under the tree. We shared roast beef dinner…and, in the end, helped him get home.

Fed up with feeling lousy, Lorne started running at 40 yrs old, diarizing his mileage.

In his 80’s, he achieved his goal, running more than the CIRCUMFERENCE OF THE EARTH = 24,901miles or 40,075 kms!

Meanwhile, businesses expanded– first, Dunhill, and then Cope, Churchill & Company, expanding from Kamloops to Kelowna, Westbank, and Ashcroft. When the partnership split, Lorne took practices over in Kelowna and Westbank to create Churchill & Co.

Although he was a stern boss in the office, Beryl and Lorne developed great working relationships that grew into friendships, with staff (now friends) staying in their lives long after retirement, in fact into their 90’s!

With Lorne’s gleaming white hair and dashing good looks, our dear friend and neighbour, Denise called him “Blake Carrington”, partners called him “Whitey”!

Beryl and Lorne also created corporations, facilitating the purchase of real estate. They invested in properties from Kamloops and Vernon to up north, as far as Chetwynd. They expanded to 3 warehouses in Kamloops with partners – son Bruce, and Pete and Sean McKenna. In total, Beryl and Lorne owned 6 Commercial Properties and 7 Residential Properties in their lifetimes! When Lorne retired at 60 yrs old, he managed some of the commercial properties and helped with his children’s businesses for another 20 years.

He achieved many honours and awards, acting as Treasurer and eventually President of the Kelowna Golf & Country Club. He was a great public speaker, sharing this talent at Gyro and CGA events, as well as the honour of Arnold Churchill’s Eulogy.

Lorne had a library in their last two homes… one with a toy train from his childhood, going back and forth across the top of the bookshelves for the grandkids. He encouraged reading and intellectual discussions with his children, particularly at the dinner table.

As a father, he repeatedly said, “If you’re gonna do it, do it right!”

Lorne was adopted, and with the help of his daughter, he found his birth parents, and/or their families, at 58 yrs old. He remained in contact with his Birth Mother for the rest of her life, as well as her husband, brother, and her two children. Although his Birth Father had died before they had a chance to meet, he befriended his two Uncles and their families, sharing a rich relationship with both, discovering his Italian heritage for the first time in his 60’s!

Beryl was hilarious, the life of the party. As her granddaughter Catherine wrote, “It’s the greatest gift I could have asked for –- to find that parts of you have sown themselves into me at my core.

To laugh as often as I can.
To not sweat the small stuff.
To be kind, but not a pushover.
To thrive at the center of a party yet still be the best listener in the room.
To revel in quick wit, generosity, and above all else – fun.”

She was known for her “Berylisms”, British colloquialisms such as….

“Bigger losses in the sea”, “That’s just enough to make you mad”, “It’s worse where there’s none” and “You’re going to want this time in bed in the morning”!

She’d call Ellen before gigs and say “Sing it sweet”!

Beryl called a cup of tea “The Nectar of the Gods” and would call out while doing the dishes, “Maybe the pot fairy will come!”

Her “Keep Fit” friends said, “Amidst grunts and groans, in comes Beryl, late again…cup in hand…and laughter fills the Mission Senior’s Center Fitness Class. We laugh so hard we can’t even move, let alone exercise!”

Her Grandson called her “full of love and kindness.”

The Churchills purchased Lakefront on the Shuswap, wintered in Hawaii for decades, traveled to Italy with their son Bruce and his partner Tami, then bought in Palm Springs, where they wintered during their 80’s.

Spending time with them made you happy, with so many memories of laughing REALLY, REALLY HARD! They celebrated often: Family Reunions, Christmas Parties, Birthdays, Anniversaries, spending every Anniversary for 50 years, from 1975-2025 at La Bussola Restaurant with owners Franco and Loretta.  At 88 yrs old, Lorne “danced his daughter, down the aisle” at her wedding. Later that night, Ellen said, “he jumped to his feet to dance with me for my favourite Stan Kenton tune, ‘Time for a Change’ in 9/8 time, no less!”

Dogs were also a big part of their lives. Beryl and Lorne were lovers of dogs, including Lorne’s Husky Teddy and Beryl’s Tinky in their youth, then Cocker Spaniel Teddy, Brittany/Springer Spaniel Snoopy, and Golden Retriever Winston in their final years.

FINAL YEARS…

Funnily enough, while the pencil end slowly erased decades of knowledge and learning, Lorne retained the ability to calculate percentages in his head… “15% of 740”, Ellen would ask. “111”, he’d correctly answer before she could think it through!

Lorne became more demonstrative in his final years, more at ease with expressing love. He would hold Beryl’s hand at the table and say, “I love you”, repeatedly, sometimes every 5 minutes, because he’d forgotten he’d just said it…or maybe not…

Caregivers would cry watching them reunite after a week apart, when Beryl was in hospital…hugs and kisses and conversation.

Near the end, she would catch the food if it fell from his mouth. Beryl was that attentive. She knew how clean he liked to be.

They shared “Date Night” every Friday until the last few months of their lives, usually with pasta from Chibo & Vines. He called her “Berylie Baby”.

When Lorne’s dementia caused night thrashing and they had to be separated for Beryl’s safety, their beds were placed 6 inches apart. During naps and at bedtime, they held hands across the space between them as they fell asleep.

Our thanks to the many Caregivers who kept them safely in their Peachland home, particularly Stacey Watmough who showered and nursed them until the end.

Beryl and Lorne are survived by their 3 children Dr. Lorne Churchill, Bruce Churchill (predeceased by Tami Nott), and Ellen Churchill (Karla Ingbritson), 9 grandchildren Pamela Churchill, Catherine Churchill, Matthew Duncanson, Spencer Duncanson, Donavan Beauclair, Christopher Nott (Terry Lyons), Leah Ludwig (Scott Ludwig), Danielle Churchill, Jason Churchill (Brandie Paquette) and 8 great grandchildren.

Predeceased by parents Winston Spencer and Antoinette Marie (Marion) Churchill, Ellen (Nellie) and Ruben Archibald Cowan, as well as siblings: Elaine (Bus) Kobitzch, Edward (Bunny) Cowan, Jack (Marg) Cowan, Hal (Val) Cowan, Vic (Shirley) Cowan, and Terry (Barb) Cowan.

Donations in their memory can be made to the SPCA or the charity of your choice. They gave to many charities. The family will announce if they will be holding a celebration at a later date.

If you wish to send a condolence, post photos, or share a memory, please scroll down the page to the area called “Condolences”.