June 4, 1920 - May 28, 2017
Youngest of four children born to Scottish immigrants, Bella MacLean and Charlie Williamson, Rona was raised on a farm near Armstrong, BC. She trained as a nurse at Essondale Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam in the late 1930s, then worked in Ontario. She married Jim Leduc, also from the Okanagan, in 1942 at Hamilton, where he was preparing to go overseas with the RCAF. They returned to Armstrong to raise five children after the war. There Rona helped found and teach at Kindale School for children with special needs. In 1988, she moved to the Sunshine Coast, where she was an enthusiastic grandma, gardener, volunteer, weaver, quilter and sewer, and one of the original planners and residents at Roberts Creek Co-housing. In 2012, she moved to Vancouver Island to be closer to daughter Alison.
Rona was open-minded and interested in new ideas to the end. Friends and relatives were not surprised to learn she was leaving a group discussion after a regular weekly TED talk when she fell and suffered a head injury. According to her firm wish, no "heroic measures" were considered for this realistic former farm girl. Her family are grateful for the loving care she received at Victoria General and the help staff gave us to stay with her and keep her as comfortable as possible during her last few days.
Rona enjoyed travel and in retirement had a few memorable trips and longish sojourns, including to the UK, the Yukon, Ahousaht on BC's West Coast, and South Africa.
Predeceased by her parents, siblings Margaret, Jim, and Jean, husband Jim and daughter Beth. Survived by four children, Joanne (Lyle), Ken (Lynne), Jan (Mike), Alison; nine grandchildren, Nick, Paula, Kim, Genevieve, Brad, Tyler, Jesse, Kyle, Katy; seven great-grandchildren, Hannah, Clio, Evan, Lars, Kiran, Evelyn and Isabelle.
Rona was a lifelong advocate for social justice and equality. We pass on two of her useful injunctions: "Think for yourself, no one can or should think for you," and "Never give up, but take lots of breaks."
A gathering to remember Rona will be held in Roberts Creek on Saturday, July 29, 2017. Please call 604-886-2820 for place and time.