PARKES, Allana

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1955 – 2020

It is with great sadness that the family of Allana Parkes announce her passing on November 11, 2020 at Hospice House in Kelowna, BC. She is survived by her favorite daughter, Vanessa Maidens (Billy Maidens) & beloved dog, Teddy. She was predeceased by her husband Larry Parkes, mother Betty Penney, father Bert Penney, sister Adair Penney, and nephew Thomas Penney.

Born in Sydney River, Nova Scotia in 1955, Allana spent countless summers at her family’s beach estate in Cape Breton. Then, in the early 1970s, her desire and passion for learning pulled her away to Toronto where she enrolled at Seneca College to study nursing. In a few short years, Allana went as far West as she could go, following her love of the mountains and ocean to BC. She ended up falling in love with more than just the landscape – BC is where she met her soulmate, Larry. After a few years of dating, they relocated to Kitimat, got married and started their family. Through all her life changes, she still had such a passion for learning that when she was pregnant with Vanessa, she took a power engineering course for fun! In 1986, Allana suddenly and tragically lost her husband, leading her to move back to Vancouver with Vanessa. As she adjusted to life as a single mom, she used her passion for women’s and children’s rights to conduct work for the ombudsman’s office reviewing child protection legislation in BC. Allana stayed busy raising her daughter by herself, constantly pursuing different courses through UBC, and enjoying weekends by the ocean in Stanley Park. In 1996, Allana and Vanessa relocated to Kelowna where Allana began her nursing career at Kelowna General Hospital. In 1999, she moved over to Cottonwoods and loved her work there so much, she stayed there until this year. She planned to retire in 2020, and was looking forward to tending to her garden, spending as much time as she could outside in nature and of course taking even more courses through UBC.

Allana’s sense of humor, independence, compassion and kindness will be missed by her family, friends and lovely coworkers at Cottonwoods.

The family would like to thank the kind staff at Hospice House and the incredible team at KGH Emergency, especially: Dr. Doug Nottebrock, Dr. Lee Graham, Dr. Graeme Mccauley, Dr. Daniel Yavin, Dr. Jade Dittaro and her GP, Dr. Nancy Burget.

A Celebration of Life to honour Allana will be held in spring 2021.

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