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Eleanor Vincent Celeste Trevison

January 15, 2021

K1A8K6I3-20210129104938
July 12, 1925 - January 15, 2021
Born in Trail, BC, Eleanor was deeply intelligent, hard-working and as whip-funny as anyone in her family. She excelled academically and graduated with top marks from Trail Business College in 1944.
She took a job at West Kootenay Power and Light, where she worked until her retirement in 1987. At West Kootenay, she trained many other workers and was ultimately recruited for what had previously been a "man's job" of accounting - although she was still paid a woman's clerical wage. On her retirement, the utility general manager sent her a personal letter of gratitude for her high professional standard.
Eleanor will be fondly missed by her family. Her brother, David Trevison, whose earliest memories include a home filled with music and Eleanor singing Brahm's Lullaby to him said "She wasn't like a sister. She was like the matriarch over the family."
Lance Trevison, Eleanor's nephew, said "It didn't matter how difficult things were physically or emotionally. She always fought for her family and advocated for herself, from the beginning of her life right up until the end. She was without a doubt the strongest woman I ever met."
Her strength expressed itself both in endurance and in an unconquerable sense of humor. In the best times, niece Nancy Trevison remembers her wisecracking with family and friends, admiring the absurd and puncturing the inflated.
In the worst times, humor did not desert her. "Say ahhh," a nurse urged her at midnight during a serious hospitalization in 2018, shining a flashlight at her throat to determine whether she'd regained the ability to swallow. "What key?" Eleanor replied, her whisper barely audible.
When it came to the troubles of others, Eleanor was a compassionate listener, encouraging endurance and optimism. "It happens to the living," was a favorite expression.
Instead of voyaging to other countries she traveled through mysteries and biographies. Instead of visiting art museums she put the prints she admired on her apartment walls. And she continued to envelop the people in her life with affectionate, intelligent attention.
In her earlier years she made annual trips to Vancouver on her vacation time. She would send family back home packages of goodies from the Bon Bon Store.
After her sister-in-law Janet died, Eleanor and her mother spent nearly all of Eleanor's work vacations at her brother Robert's house in Spokane, making sure her nieces and nephew were polished with love. As the family grew larger and spread farther, every occasion was honored by her cards, phone calls and packages.
"Eleanor always tried to keep the family together and include me, even though I didn't know anybody," said niece Wendy Trevisan Tomanek, who grew up away from the family but remembers a steady stream of attention from her aunt. "She always tried to keep that connection going. She was like the kin keeper, who kept all family members informed about everything."
Eleanor valued her lifelong independence. Over the past several years, as her health declined, she was able to stay in her apartment relying on help from niece Nancy Trevison, nephew Lance Trevison, grand-nephew Kyle Trevison and from professional healthcare visitors referred to by Eleanor as her "ladies of the evening." However, an illness led to her final hospitalization before Christmas 2020.
She is preceded in death by parents Pietro and Gemma Trevison of Trail B.C; brother Louis Trevisan (Lillian) of Camarillo, Calif. and brother Robert Trevison (Janet) of Spokane.
Survivors include brother David Trevison (Claudette) of Penticton B.C.; nieces and nephews Wendy Trevisan Tomanek (John) of Kelowna, B.C.; Brenda-Lee Trevison Paul (Tom Stevens) of Qualicum Beach, BC.; Lance Trevison (Cheryl) of Bonnington, B.C.; Peter Trevison of Spokane, Wash.; Nancy Trevison (Griff Rain) of Harrop, B.C.; Catherine Trevison of Portland, Ore.; and Peter Trevisan (Heather) of San Francisco, Calif.
Eleanor's legacy also leaves behind six grand nieces and nephews and twelve great grand nieces and nephews.
We extend a special thank you to the staff of the Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital. Your kind and compassionate care is greatly appreciated by the family.
At Eleanor's request there will be no Funeral Service. Cremation and interment at Rossland Mountview Cemetery with family.
In lieu of flowers please make a donation to your charity of preference in honour of Eleanor.
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