Month: September 2024

Remembering Lyn van Lidth de Jeude

A woman with long straight white hair in a dark brown knee-length sweater and black pants, stands looking down and smiling at a golden retriever, who is also smiling, sitting on her feet, where she stands in her garden. There are forget-me-not flowers all around her feet, and in her hands she is holding a bouquet of raspberry-pink and violet rhododendron flowers, and parsley leaves.
Lyn in her garden with her dog, Kalea.

Our mother and life partner, a lover of song and beauty. A singer, a gardener, wife, mother, grandmother, friend, teacher, and creator and spreader of love, died peacefully on September 18th 2024, five months after receiving her brain tumour diagnosis.

Lyn van Lidth de Jeude helped raise countless children in her 40 year career as an early childhood educator, infant development consultant, and music therapist. Through her dedication and constant love for every child in her care, Lyn worked tirelessly to ensure that they all started off with a strong foundation.

While you may not have guessed it, Lyn was born in Daytona Beach Florida, and a piece of her identity was her deep ranching roots in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Her father Horatio Ham, an engineer, moved the family of 5 kids many times until the final move north to West Vancouver. Once here, Lyn attended West Van High and Capilano College ending with a degree in music therapy.

Music was always a fundamental part of her life. From her many many years with the Vancouver folk song society to her participation in Bowen Island choirs (the Madrigals, Song Roots, and the Community Choir). She also instilled the love of music in her children and shared her songs whenever she could.

Lyn and her husband Everhard moved to Bowen Island in 1978. As she engaged in life with her young family, Lyn quickly grew to love her community and developed deep friendships, choosing to see her friends as family and treating them as such.

In 1993, the family moved to the interior, where Lyn worked as a music therapist and infant development consultant in Kamloops. Lyn and Everhard returned to Bowen Island in 2006, where Lyn again joined the Bowen Children's Centre, with a desire to give back to her own community.

Throughout her life it was most important to love, help, and respect people who needed it. From volunteering at the Nook or the Recycling Depot, the Garden Club or the Conservancy, or delivering food for the Legion, or the countless other community endeavours, Lyn loved to help.

She is survived by her family and many, many friends.

Shortly before she died, Lyn dictated the following message, which she asked us to pass on to her loved ones after her death:

For the people I love,
My time is finished, now. I would like you to know how much you mean to me. I have appreciated the connections and love we’ve shared. I hope you will continue to find beauty in the world.
Lyn

A beautiful woman with long straight white-blond hair sits on a porch, playing a small acoustic guitar. She's looking down at her fingers forming the chord. She's wearing a pale lilac dress and a pair of glasses. It's a sunny day.
Lyn playing guitar on her own porch.

More links, videos and photos for those who might want to spend some time remembering the beauty that was Lyn:

Obituary from the Vancouver Folksong Society: Remembering Lyn van Lidth de Jeude

A man with short stand-up brown hair in a plaid shirt sits holding a baby on his lap, and she's holding a dolly on her own lap. He is smiling at the camera; she is laughing and pointing at the camera. Wearing a little white baby dress.
Lyn on her father's lap.
A black and white photo of a band on stage. Woman on left plays bass violin, woman in the middle is Lyn and stands not singing at a microphone, waiting as the man on the right, with a large acoustic guitar, appears to be taking a solo. Lyn is wearing a loud printed dress, 60's style.
Lyn performing with her band in the late 60's.
A young woman in a blue jacket is riding a horse in the wind on a beach with large ocean waves crashing in the background.
Lyn in the early 1970's
A woman in a white printed blouse and dark orange pants sits on a low seat in a living room, singing and playing guitar. She has long brown hair falling down her shoulders and back, and is pregnant.
Lyn, pregnant with Emily in 1975.
A woman holds a young child on her lap, reading a book. THey are both visibly laughing because they are reading Little Bear's Visit, the child's favourite book.
Lyn reading Emily's favourite story, where the gnome loses his shoes and they come to find him! Watch Lyn reading a funny catalogue with her grandson, here: https://youtu.be/WBWCPy9LpXM
A woman sits on a dock with seaside bluffs in the background. She is laughing at the camera, and holding a little laughing boy ontop of their big fluffy dog.
Lyn, baby Adrian, and Chis Chila.
A wild-looking yard with a line full of laundry on the left and a makeshift shed on the right. In the shed, a man and woman stand slaughtering two rabbits, which are hanging from strings at the edge of the shed. The man is handing the kidneys to the couple's black fluffy dog, who is sitting politely, waiting.
Lyn and Everhard on their first homestead, slaughtering rabbits. Everhard is feeding the kidneys to Chis Chila.
A woman with short grey and white hair stands on a handmade footbridge in the Swiss alps, smiling at the camera because the love of her life is behind it.
Lyn in Switzerland, smiling at the love of her life, Everhard, behind the camera. 1999
A man and a woman in winter clothing and hats, standing in cross-country skis on a snow-covered frozen lake.
Lyn and Everhard skiing in the interior.
A woman stands bending over her two grandchildren, hugging them. Her long white hair tumbles down over them both. The boy has long brown hair and looks safe and happy under her hair, where she's kissing his head. The girl, with long blond hair, is peeking out from her grandmother's white hair, and smiling.
Lyn's love for her grandchildren was perfect. This photo was taken at her retirement party. Watch Lyn singing traditional Canadian folksongs with her granddaughter's class, here: https://youtu.be/LQ7VeLUyZz8
A woman in a large garden stands on a tall folding ladder, measuring a huge sunflower, that was over 13 feet tall. It hangs over her and the flower is bigger than her head.
Lyn measuring her award-winning sunflower that was over 13 feet tall!
A woman standing singing at a microphone, with a beautiful open smile!
Lyn singing a traditional ballad at the Princeton Traditional Music Festival. Watch Lyn singing at the PTMF, here: https://youtu.be/VrBNiLGm_0Q
A man with short dark blond hair and a very short beard, wearing a black cartoon t-shirt and a blue ribbon, stands with his arm around his mother. She is shorter than he is, and has long straight white hair, glasses, and is wearing a pink sleeveless shirt. They are both smiling happily.
Adrian and Lyn on Adrian's 40th birthday.
A man with a short grey and white beard and glasses sits smiling in a pale yellow collared shirt, looking to the left. A woman with long white hair pulled back looks at him with her hand held partially in front of her face. She is smiling and really her whole face beams with love and affection for this man, who is her husband.
Everhard and Lyn at friends' wedding celebration.
A woman sits at the front of a canoe, paddling. She has long white hair pulled back into a bun, and is paddling on her left side. The man who took the photo, from the back of the canoe, was her husband and the love of her life.
Lyn paddling in BC's interior. Photo by Everhard.
A scene with an orange Kobota tractor hauling a black utility trailer with foot-high sides. A young long-haired man in a grey hoodie is driving the tractor, but turned to the camera, smiling. In the trailer an adult man with short dark blond hair, jeans, and a grey sweater, is smiling, with his hands holding a smiling golden retriever. A woman in a blue rain jacket with long straight white hair stands at the side of the trailer, and is lifting the dog's floppy ears up so it looks like she's flying. This is a happy family portrait on a work day.
Adrian, Lyn and Taliesin with the happiest dog in the world, Kalea.
Two woman are partially obscured by a large red currant bush, where they are harvesting berries. They are leaning, heads close together. The woman on the left has dark brown hair pulled into a bun, and the woman on the right has white hair pulled into a bun.
Emily and Lyn harvesting red currants together.