HEATHER JANE LEIGHTON

(nee Rose) After 94 eventful years, Heather's life ended peacefully on September 27, 2025, surrounded by her family. Born in Nakusp, BC, and raised in the mining communities of the Slocan and Bridge River valleys, Heather is the last of her generation. Her dream of following her father as a mining engineer was vetoed on the basis there were no women's toilets in the field. Nursing was considered more appropriate. Heather became a public health nurse with the City of Vancouver. In 1956, she married John Leighton, a young lawyer. By 1962, she was an impossibly busy mother of four. In 1972, John was offered a CIDA contract in Uganda. Heather threw herself into the adventure, until the family was recalled to Canada following Amin's expulsion of Uganda's South Asian citizens. She returned to public health and was elected a steward with the BC Nurses Union. Eventually she left nursing for the Union. For almost 20 years she organized, negotiated, and led a couple of strikes before retiring as BCNU vice-president. Heather and John spent their retirement traveling widely but the cabin at Gun Lake in the Bridge River was home. After John died in 2018 Heather's final years in Vancouver were quiet. Her grandchildren were one source of joy. A nightly glass of wine with her friend Diane Kohl was another. Heather is mourned by her children, Margaret (Fred Der), Beth (Drew Kerekes), Ian (Lavina Wong) and Alistair (Sheila Macdonald); grandchildren, Liz (Sofia Rodrigues), Gillian, Meg, and Glen; as well as many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her grandson, Jack; her nephew, Joe; and siblings, Hugh, Beth, and John. A celebration of life is planned for a later date. As Heather's commitment to charitable giving was lifelong, a contribution to a Charity of Your Choice in her memory would be very "Heather"ish.