Sheila MACKENZIE

SHEILA AMBROSE HIGGINS MACKENZIE 1927 - 2022 Sheila was born in the mining town of Sewell, high in the Chilean Andes. Daughter to Larratt Tinsley Higgins of Toronto and Edna Earl Ambrose of Baltimore, she attended the French convent in Santiago and Trinity College in Toronto, where she met and married Michael Mackenzie. Together they had four children, Landon (Donald MacPherson), Annabel (Douglas Higgins), Hugh (Paula Nichols) and D'Arcy (Leslie Chambers). While Sheila's profession was social work, she developed an enduring passion for art and public affairs. Blessed with an exuberant nature, she was by turns irreverent and traditional. Unsuspecting souls who thought they might chit chat their way through her annual feast of St. Thorlac, found themselves either converted to hymn singing or put to work in the kitchen! Summer was surely her favourite season, when she created her legendary Granny camp at Windhaven on Stony Lake for her children and later her much loved nine grandchildren, Cluny (Mary Ellen), Meghan (Matt), Jeffryn, Georgia, Michael (Begoña), Blair, Madeline, Molly (Nathan) and Isobel. In winter she recruited them all as shepherds and angels in the annual Christmas Story pageant at Holy Trinity. Predeceased by her brother, Larratt; and son, D'Arcy, Sheila leaves her great-grandchildren, Hugo and Simone; sisters-in-law, Patricia Higgins and Landon Pearson; and several nieces and nephews. She died peacefully at dawn on November 18, at home in Vancouver. The family are eternally grateful to her devoted caregiver Vilma Ferrada and the entire Home Vive team, especially NP Anne Coles and Dr. Kelly Little. Many thanks also to Kathy John, Dana Snow, Carolyn Stockbridge and the countless friends and family who have supported Sheila to live in her own house through these many years. Funeral at Christ Church Cathedral Vancouver on Monday, November 28, at 1 p.m. Burial at Hillside in Lakefield, near Stony Lake on Saturday, December 3, at 3 p.m.