Avril died at home on New Year's Eve, after a prolonged illness, surrounded by her husband of 66 years, Michael, and her children - Susan, Andrew and Lorraine.

Avril was born on 23rd April 1934 in Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands, and was there when the Germans invaded the island. She had many tales of the hardships endured by the islanders during the five years under occupation including the severe food shortage after D-day, when the food supplies to the Channel Islands were severed.

After school, Avril moved to England to train as a nurse and later worked in the TB wards of the Royal Brompton Hospital in London. It was at this time that she met Michael, a recently qualified doctor. They married in 1956. They had their first child, Susan in 1958.

In 1959, the family emigrated to Canada. They settled in Red Lake, Ontario, a gold mining community, where they spent 16 happy years and where Avril had two more children - Andrew and Lorraine.

In 1975, the family moved to McCreary, Manitoba, where they had bought a farm and Michael continued working at the local hospital.

On a trip to BC, they fell in love with the town of Peachland. They bought a building lot and four years later in 1994, they retired, moved to Peachland and built their house.

Avril was an excellent wife and mother, an accomplished pianist and a lover of the outdoors. A large part of their summers was spent hiking in the Rockies.

She will be greatly missed by her husband, three children, five grandchildren and four great grandchildren.