Family and friends of Lucile Palsson are celebrating the life of the woman who has been an integral part of the Lake Cowichan community for decades.
Lucile died just three weeks shy of her 100th birthday on Jan. 26, putting an end to elaborate plans by her loved ones to celebrate the occasion with her in a variety of ways.
Daughter Billie Ann Howard said the congratulatory letter from Queen Elizabeth to celebrate her centennial birthday arrived on the day Lucile died.
“My mother was a wise, wonderful woman who lived her life well,” said Howard.
“Mom touched many people during her life. As part of the preparations for her upcoming birthday, I organized a 100-day countdown in which I contacted 100 people who had been influenced by mom and asked them to phone, visit or email her one a day to tell her the countdown number and to just have a chat.”
Howard said more than 70 people were able to offer Lucile early birthday greetings, from places near and far.
“Lucile knew she was loved and appreciated,” she said.
Lucile was born in Vancouver in 1918, eventually graduated from UBC with a teaching certificate, and taught in Dawson Creek before marrying Oscar Palsson, who was also a teacher in that community, in 1944.
The newly married couple moved to Comox to teach before moving on to Lake Cowichan where they settled.
Lucile taught French and English at Lake Cowichan Secondary School, where her husband Oscar eventually became principal, and was also responsible for the library.
Both retired in 1975 and were honoured for their decades teaching in the area when Lake Cowichan’s newest school, Palsson Elementary School, was named after them in 1977.
Lucile outlived Oscar by 23 years and spent her remaining years living alone in a house that she and her husband had built on the banks of the Cowichan River.
Lucile was well known in the community as the epitome of grace and good humour.
She is said to have had a truly remarkable memory and could regale people with fascinating stories from “the old days” of Lake Cowichan’s past.
Lucille’s other daughter Vicky Teather said that in the 1950s, high school libraries were solemn, silent places filled with reference books and classical literature.
She said that when her mother became the librarian at LCCS, that changed.
“[Lucile] introduced reading material, like Fashion and Sports Illustrated, that would draw students into the library,” Teather said.
“There were large bulletin board displays about current events, as well as updates of scores from the baseball playoffs, trivia about the World Series, statistics of NHL players, popular teen music idol profiles. [My mother] made going to the library fun.”
Lucile’s granddaughter Beth Lapsansky said Lucile “truly was beauty and grace personified”.
“I will forever admire that she always presented her best self, hair always done, lovely outfits and jewelry, China and silver out for meals and her beautiful smile,” she said.
“She was always welcoming and generous, and had a quiet humour that would sometimes take you by surprise. She was strong and loving, extremely intelligent and sharp minded. We were extremely lucky to have had her.”
Colleen Waldegger, another granddaughter, said she’s always admired the fact that relationships were very important to Lucile.
She said that in caring for others, “Grannie” built relationships and a community that cared for her.
And in so doing, Waldegger said Lucile was able to stay in her home in her beloved community of Lake Cowichan until the end because she always put relationships with others first, and it was reciprocated.
“Thank you Grannie for teaching us that it is people who matter most, including family, friends and community,” she said.
“A lot of change and stress happens in 100 years of living but you never forgot the value of relationships and you never stopped giving your time and listening ear to others. And thank you, Lake Cowichan, for being a caring community that understands, just as Grannie did, that what matters most is our relationships.”
Family friend Marilyn Clark said Lucile was a quiet, unassuming and brilliant lady.
“She and Oscar are memorialized in the Palsson Elementary School in Lake Cowichan,” Clark said.
“It is difficult to imagine a visit to Lake Cowichan without a Palsson to visit.”
There will be a celebration of life for Palsson on Jan. 26, her 100th birthday, starting at 2 p.m. at Centennial Hall in Lake Cowichan and members of the public are welcome to attend.
The family invites those who wish to honour Lucile to give a donation to the Lake Cowichan Food Bank Society, Box 1087, Lake Cowichan, B.C., V0R 2G0.
robert.barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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