With family by her side, Muriel Anne Brothers (nee McGimpsey) passed away peacefully on May 30, 2017 at the age of 92 years in the Castleview Care Center in Castlegar, BC.
Born on September 12, 1924 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Muriel was the fourth child in a large Irish family of eight. The McGimpseys lived for many years in Stony Mountain, where they operated the only general store and Post Office in town.
She served in WW11 as a wireless operator in the naval base outside of Victoria, BC. After being discharged following the end of the war, she met her future husband Ted Brothers and moved to Trail, BC in 1945. Muriel and Ted raised two children, were active participants in the Eastern Star and Masonic Lodge, and operated Brothers Studio photography store.
In 1973, they returned to the coast, moving to Nanaimo, B.C., where at the age of 49 Muriel graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Victoria. Her five grandchildren remember fondly wonderful dinners around their dinner room table in Nanaimo, climbing the plum tree in their back yard and watching the ferries come and go from their window overlooking Departure Bay
Muriel was predeceased by her husband Ted in 2006 and is survived by her daughter Diane; son Monte; daughter-in-law Cheryl; five grandchildren: Maura, Ben, Rachel, Meghan, and Patrick; and four great grandchildren: Everett, Orson, Kian, and Elizabeth, as well as her brother Tom McGimpsey and sister Beverly Lange.
Always the life of the party, Muriel treated her friends and family to a large celebration her 90th birthday, in Stanley Park (Vancouver BC). By far her greatest enjoyment and pride in her life, was the time spent with her grandchildren and great grandchildren. Only last week, she offered to babysit her one year old great granddaughter at the full care facility, Castle View Care Center, where she was residing. Although the offer was declined, we know baby Elizabeth would have had a lot of fun in her care.
In 2016, she returned to Trail, BC to enjoy her final years in the same city as her son Monte. Her time spent at Rosewood Village in Trail and recently at Castleview Care Center was very enjoyable due to the excellent care from the staff in these facilities, for which her family is deeply grateful.
With a keen and curious mind, Muriel enjoyed bridge, reading and current events, engaging in many enthusiastic debates with family and friends. She enjoyed exceptional good health, walking ½ mile the day before her passing peacefully of old age.
In keeping with her wishes, in the near future, her children, daughter-in-law, grandchildren and great grandchildren, will inter her ashes with her husband Ted at Mountain View Cemetery in Trail.
In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Vancouver Military Museum which was founded by her husband Ted and has become an institution in Nanaimo; 100 Cameron Rd. Nanaimo BC V9R 0C8
Tel: 250 753 3814 Email: oic@vimms.ca
“Those we love don’t walk away,
They walk beside us every day,
Unseen, unheard, but always near,
Still loved, still missed, and very dear.”