Gladys May Craig passed away peacefully on the morning of February 28, 2017, at Mountain Lakes Seniors Residence in Nelson, B.C. three months short of her 96th birthday. Gladys was born on May 24, 1921 in Winnipeg Manitoba, the oldest child of Gordon Kenneth and Catherine Menzies (Douglas) Sutherland. Her beloved husband of 54 years, Jack Craig, her sister, Doris Catherine Swystun, and her parents predecease her. She is survived by her brother Charlie Sutherland of Castlegar, eight much-loved nieces and nephews; Grant (Allison) Sutherland of Nelson, Jill (Michael) Beland of Grand Cache, Scott (Sue) Sutherland of Hood River, Carol (Jeff) Townsend of Castlegar, Michael (Jacinta) Craig of St. Albert, Roy (Sherri) Swystun of Calgary, Heather Swystun (Ian McDonald) of Whitehorse and Gail Swystun-Abbi (Raj Abbi) of Calgary as well as seventeen grand nieces and nephews. Gladys will be lovingly remembered and sadly missed by all of us.
Gladys grew up in Tisdale, Sask. and Kaslo B.C. After attending secretarial college, Gladys worked at Cominco in Trail for 24 years. She enjoyed gardening, skiing, skating, golfing, swimming and hiking with many friends who knew her by her nickname “Suds”. She married Jack Craig in Trail and became the best Aunt to her nieces and nephews, entertaining them at Christina Lake every summer. When they retired, Gladys and Jack enjoyed playing bridge and square dancing at their winter trailer home in Tucson, Arizona before moving to Victoria where they became avid bridge players and continued gardening, creating a beautiful garden on the steep bank of the gorge.
After Jack passed away in 2001 at 89 years of age, Gladys continued to play bridge with the Victoria Seniors and work in the gardens at her condo and at Government House. One day while driving, Gladys recognized her eyesight was going, drove to the dealership, sold her car, and took a cab home. A role model for us all!
Deciding to move closer to family in 2009, Gladys moved to Lakeview Village in Nelson and continued to play bridge with the Nelson Seniors. Our industrious Aunt built another garden here - beside the railway track – carrying bags of white rocks and giant plant pots herself! Gladys moved to Mountain Lakes Seniors Community in 2015 where she resided for the last eighteen months.
The family would like to thank the staff at Mountain Lakes, Penny Lynn Chapman, Vivian Kingdon and the caregivers at LaViva Seniors; Olena, Devon, Lynn, Chris and Soon Yeen, for their caring attention to Gladys over the last few years. A celebration of life will be held this summer. Gladys will be interred at the Royal Oak Burial Park in Victoria. B.C. Condolences can be sent to gladysfamilyfriends@gmail.com.