Heather-Ann Laird

LAIRD, Heather-Ann August 20th, 1961 - February 12th, 2019 We are heartbroken and devastated to announce the sudden and unexpected passing of our beloved daughter, sister and friend, Heather-Ann Laird, on February 12th, 2019, surrounded by family, at the age of 57 while waiting for a liver transplant due to a rare genetic disease. She is lovingly remembered by her mother, Ruth, brother, Scott (Wendi) sister Bonnie, relatives in St. John's Newfoundland, Halifax Nova Scotia and numerous friends and colleagues. She is predeceased by her father Major Glen Nelson Laird in 1973, paternal grandparents, Beatrice and Glen Laird, maternal grandparents, Harold and Winnifred Pike. Heather-Ann was born on a military base in Iserlohn, Germany on August 20th, 1961 and subsequently grew up on military bases in Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Ontario, Alberta and Germany in the 1960's and 1970's. At an early age she loved to read and would spend a lot of her time curled up with books including all the children's classics and popular mysteries. Heather-Ann was interested in Brownies, art classes, ballet, tap dancing and piano lessons and received her grade 5 levels from the Royal Conservatory of Music. Heather- Ann especially excelled in Scottish Highland dancing and at age 11, performed solo at arts festivals and on TV shows in St. John's. In 1975 our adventurous Mother decided to take us on a backpacking trip to Europe visiting over 5 countries in 6 weeks! We stayed at low budget comfortable Swiss Inns to the high end "Grand Sol" hotel in Spain. At age 13, Heather-Ann had a natural ability to navigate us onto the right trains, buses and hotels but she also had an aversion to sun and would rather stay in the air-conditioned hotel in Barcelona, Spain reading Agatha Christie books, than join us on the beach! Her passion for travel continued throughout her life- she lived in London in the early 1980's, and made many trips to Europe including Italy, France, Scotland, England, Amsterdam and Portugal. Her love of Paris and all things French included cooking, décor and art. After graduating from high school in Calgary, Heather-Ann wanted to become a travel agent, or a translator or linguist and graduated in 1983 after a four year BA English degree at the Faculte Saint Jean (University of Alberta). In the summer of 1981 Heather-Ann was invited by her good friend Rachel Anderson, to live and work in England at her aunt's hotel. They toured Weymouth and Dorset area and ended up in London. Rachel and Heather-Ann moved out of Residence into apartments in Edmonton near U of A where they met their future husbands in 1983. Heather-Ann decided to pursue her love of research and graduated in 1990 with a Master's degree in Library and Information Studies from the University of Alberta. Soon after she re-located to Victoria to be closer to family and began her 29 year career as librarian at the Ministry of Health where she served in many different capacities: Research Officer, (Communications Branch), Librarian (Ministry of Health Library and Ministry of Children and Family Development), Systems Librarian, and on many occasions, as Acting Manager and Head Librarian (Health and Human Services Library). She was a valued colleague and friend, and due to her diligent research, one of her clients, author Alan Cassels, in the acknowledgement for his book "Selling Sickness," wrote "...and Heather-Ann Laird, one of the best health librarians around." In addition to travel and her work, Heather-Ann loved reading mysteries especially Ruth Rendell, Dick Francis and Louise Penny. She read all 72 of Agatha Christie novels! She was also a Royal Family follower. She was a classic film buff and TCM fan and enjoyed a wide range of music from classical to pop to jazz. She often recalled that David Bowie's "Moonlight Tour" was the best concert she attended. An ardent genealogist, she had a passion for tracing our family roots and also volunteered at the Victoria Genealogical Society. Heather-Ann was a supporter of the visual arts and volunteered at the James Bay Art Walk for many years. She also enjoyed developing her golf skills at Henderson Golf Course. Heather-Ann had many qualities we all aspire to. She embodied kindness, generosity, thoughtfulness, patience, grace, and compassion. She was humble and a good listener, with a soft-spoken, calm and gentle way about her. Despite her quiet demeanour, she would have made a great lawyer as she never backed down if she had a point to make. She had a sharp, dry sense of humour and was a huge "Seinfeld", "Little Britain" and "Monty Python" fan. A lifelong animal lover, she saw many of our family pets through sickness and in health and she gave expert nursing care to her beloved cat Sylvester. Heather-Ann truly lived in the moment and had a vast wealth of wisdom and life perspective; this made her a trusted advisor among family and friends. "Ring the bells that still can ring Forget your perfect offering There is a crack, a crack in everything That's how the light gets in" Leonard Cohen Thanks to family physicians, Dr. James Ballard, Dr. Tara McCallan, and staff at Royal Jubilee Hospital. Our heartfelt gratitude to the wonderful team at Victoria Hospice for their loving and compassionate care of Heather-Ann with particular appreciation for Shirley, Alana and Dr. Gail Saiger. A Celebration of Life will be announced at later date. Please consider making a donation in her name to Victoria Hospice, Canadian Liver Foundation, or "Tiny Kittens" one of Heather-Ann's favourite animal charities (tinykittens.com). Please sign your organ donor cards.