STEPHENS, Judy

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On May 26 my beloved wife, the light of my life, took her last breath. Judy was born in Vancouver on Sept. 11, 1943, and raised in Ladner B.C., where her parents, Harry and Sydna Mole, owned a dairy farm. Judy was the third of four daughters who have remained close their entire lives, and they shared lots of laughs on their 30 years of annual shopping trips to Washington state.

Judy and I met in 1963 and were married in 1967. Our son Bryce was born in 1970 and on his first birthday, we left Vancouver for Kelowna and a new business we had bought, Sun Country Sports and Marine. After several years we sold the business and Judy started a new career selling condominiums for developers, a job she loved and excelled at, thanks to her warm personality.

When Bryce, at 16, decided he wanted to be a pilot. Judy was a little nervous about his choice of careers, but she soon became quite enthusiastic about it as he was doing so well, eventually becoming a Captain for Air Canada. After a few years, he left Air Canada to start his own home building company, Stephens Fine Homes in Calgary, which was very successful. Bryce gave her two wonderful grandchildren, Liam and Olivia, and she loved them very much.

In 1989 Judy was diagnosed with Breast cancer, but thanks to a mammogram it was caught very early and she was soon cancer-free. She then started a cancer support group for women suffering from breast cancer. It was so well received that a few months later she started another support group for breast cancer survivors who now had another type of cancer. She was one of the original members of the breast cancer Dragon Boat team, Bust’n Loose. Her greatest experience with the team was a trip they took to compete in Germany where so many women came up to them to say how wonderful it was that they could talk about breast cancer, as most women there were ashamed to speak about it.

Judy was a keen runner for many years, twice being named as Female Runner of The Year by the Interior Running Association. She took up golf in the early 90s and joined the Sunset Ranch Golf Club. She owned a beautiful, natural golf swing that allowed her to become a decent player relatively quickly. She had three holes in one and was twice Sunset’s Ladies Low Net Club Champion.

Unfortunately, despite being a picture of good health, cancer struck her again 6 years ago. This time it was Ovarian cancer, and, as usual for that cancer, it was not discovered until too late. After her first rounds of chemo, we thought she had beaten it as she was cancer-free. Unfortunately, ovarian cancer has a sneaky way of coming back after a couple of years, and this time the various treatments could not get rid of it. She knew that she had only a few months left, but never once complained or felt sorry for herself. When asked about it she would reply with her typical sense of humour that – “We’re all going to die sooner or later, I just know my best before date.” Eventually, on May 23rd she was admitted to Kelowna’s Hospice House where she passed 3 days later.

She leaves behind her husband Bill; son Bryce; grandchildren Liam and Olivia; sisters Betty Young of Fort St. James (Ron), Helen Lechthaler (Peter) of Ladysmith, Joanne Martin of Kelowna; and several nieces and nephews.

Her family would like to thank the Kelowna Cancer Center and Drs. Mirchandani and Ellard for their remarkable care. As well as the Palliative care nurses and those at Kelowna Hospice House who treated her as if she was the most important patient they ever had.

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