Daphne Georgette Dalsin (nee Luchinsky)

It is with sadness that we, the members of the Dalsin family, announce the passing of our mother Daphne Georgette Dalsin. After a two and a half month struggle with kidney failure, she died peacefully in her sleep on 13 January 2019. She is predeceased by her parents, Patricia Mary Edgerton Luchinsky (nee Dickinson) and Joseph Frank Luchinsky; her husband of 51 years, Clifford John Dalsin, and her son, Matthew John Dalsin (Angelina Beaudin). She is survived by her sons, Clinton Jerome (Cecelia Waet Dalsin, deceased and Laura Dalsin), Joseph Edward and Mark Francis and her daughters, Veronica Joan Sandahl (Steve) and Mary-Anne Sepherina Benson (Ross, deceased). She is also survived by her grandchildren, Grace-Anne Thunder (nee Benson), Donavin Clifford Benson, Lindsay Noel, Norman John Kirke Sandahl, James Francis Patrick Sandahl, Chloe Juliette Solanna Dalsin-Sandahl and Sephora Elizabeth Beaudin; her great-grandchildren, James and Michael (Lindsay, their mother) and Donavin’s baby.

Mom graduated from Saint Anne’s Academy (Victoria, BC) in 1952, with the top marks in her class. She then attended Saint Joseph’s School of Nursing, which is directly across the street from Saint Anne’s Academy. While she was a student there for three years she did her practicum at Saint Joseph’s Hospital.  She graduated as a registered nurse in 1955. Mom worked as an RN for a few years, starting at King’s Daughter’s Hospital in Duncan for one year, and then in the Pediatric Unit at Halifax Children’s Hospital for a few months. She had to stop working when she became pregnant with Clinton, as that was the hospital rules in those days. She stayed home to raise all six children when they were toddlers and preschoolers and then went back to nursing when the youngest started kindergarten. She worked as an RN providing home support nursing services for Drake Medox Health Services, psychiatric nursing services for Mac Andrew Lodge, geriatric nursing services for Juan De Fuca Hospitals, Victoria General Hospital, Rose Manor, Oak Bay Lodge, Glengarry Hospital, and Tillicum Lodge.

Mom and Dad met through the local branch of the Catholic Youth Organization. Dad was in the Royal Canadian Navy and Mom was a student in the School of Nursing. Many Catholic sailors and Catholic nursing students met and through this organization, with many of them marrying, and Mom and Dad were included in that group. During the first year that Mom worked as an RN, Dad made the commute to Duncan to date Mom. They married in 1956, and after a short period, Dad was stationed to Halifax for one year, so they packed up the house and moved to Halifax. The rest of Dad’s naval career was in Esquimalt, so we had the fortune to stay in one city for the duration of our childhood.

Mom was actively involved in the community, both in volunteering for Mother’s March of Dimes and in Sacred Heart Church in the choir and as a member of the Catholic Woman’s League. She was president of the CWL for a term of office and earned her 50-year pin. She was very spiritual and taught us to be so as well.

Mom stopped working when she was diagnosed with both Diabetes and Parkinson’s Disease. She lived with that disabling condition for 25 years and succumbed to complications from diabetes at the end of her life. She last lived at Mount Saint Mary’s Hospital, which is on the grounds of the former Saint Joseph’s School of Nursing, where she began her career in nursing. When she moved into the building, she said that she has many fond memories of both the high school and the nursing school and felt that she had moved home. She was fortunate to have a corner suite with two windows, one with a view of the gardens below, and the large walnut tree which she remembers witnessing being planted many years ago, and of the high school she attended across the street.

We wish to thank the staff and volunteers of Mount Saint Mary’s Hospital for their tender loving care of our mother, especially when Mom was palliative.

A Funeral Service will be held at 11:00 am on Thursday, 7 February 2019 at Sacred Heart Parish, 4040 Nelthorpe Avenue, Victoria, BC.

Condolences may be offered to the family below.

McCall Gardens
www.mccallgardens.com