Valerie HAMILTON

HAMILTON, Valerie Lea
April 23, 1949 – October 31, 2014
Valerie Lea Hamilton died on October 31, 2014 in Vancouver. She was predeceased by her parents Wilbur Wright Hamilton and Eirwen Megan Thomas, and brother Steven. She leaves to remember her loving nephew Matt Hamilton and his wife Andrea – the parents of her cherished grandnieces Sadie and Lily, her cousin and constant friend Pru Christensen, many other wonderful cousins and their families, as well as a large circle of friends. Val attended schools in 3 districts - Southlands Annex in Vancouver; Austin Heights in Coquitlam; Cook, Mort, Whiteside and Lord Byng Elementary Schools and Palmer and McRoberts Junior Secondary, then Steveston Secondary School in Richmond; graduating from Thompson Secondary School in Vancouver in 1967. After earning her teaching degree at UBC, she had a 35 year career as a teacher-librarian in Vancouver at Mount Pleasant (old and new), Lord Roberts, Carleton, Renfrew and Weir Elementary Schools. Val spent many years working on committees for her local and provincial unions as an elected official, while still teaching. She served on the Executive Committees of the Vancouver Elementary School Teachers' Association (VESTA), and the BC Teacher-Librarians' Association (BCTLA). She sang union songs with gusto at political events. She was an expert on health and safety policies and best practises. She was always first to buy the latest electronic gadgets. She eagerly shared her skills with teacher-librarians when computers were introduced into school libraries, and ever since. Val was a great organizer of conferences and a trusted treasurer of the BCTLA. She enjoyed creating web pages and publishing newsletters, and she also conveniently programmed her friends' cell phones when they didn't have the knowledge or patience to do it themselves. Val spent many years volunteering with Red Cross Disaster Services, and helped supervise the Call Room for several major incidents. Geocaching gave Val's life a new focus and purpose in her retirement. She found 6,640 caches in 9 states and 2 provinces with her teacher-librarian cohorts and dear friends Lori, Pam, Maureen and Penny. They got her out walking, taking amazing photos, exploring, solving puzzles, and travelling. Val's long journey through cancer started in 1990. Her joy of living was inspirational. She thanks the staff of the Cancer Agency for taking such good care of her. Dr. Karen Gelmon is a gem whose goal was to get Val out geocaching. If you wish, please donate to the Callanish Society, www.callanish.org to help it carry on the healing retreats which Val found so informative and restorative. A Celebration of Val's life will be held August 8, 2014. All Val's family and friends are invited. Please contact Pru or Matt through Val's facebook page for details.