Lydia Marie Mills of Kamloops BC, went home peacefully to her Lord the morning of December 22, 2012. She will be lovingly remembered by her husband Ken and her daughters Melody and Sheila. She was born on November 26, 1953 to William (deceased) and Lois Olson of Pierson, Manitoba. The eldest of the Olson clan she was sister to John (Rosemarie) Olson, Louise (Malcolm) Jones, Dan (Kathy) Olson, Sylvia (Richard) Carignan, Lois (Charles) Beer, Frances Greywood, Tim (Kathy) Olson, Wendy Olson, Diane (Sean) Beggs and aunt to more than fifty nieces and nephews. A gifted student, Lydia graduated early from High school in Melita, Manitoba. After her marriage to Ken and while raising Melody and Sheila, she went on to pursue a teaching degree from the University of Calgary. She was a devoted teacher for 18 years at Sa-hali Secondary School where she tirelessly ran the Learning Development program along with her close friends and colleagues Jackie Rainko and Maureen Simpson. This program offered students a unique opportunity to achieve their academic goals and to realize their individual strengths and talents. Later in life she continued her pursuit of knowledge and obtained certification to teach English as a second language through the correspondence program at the University of Saskatchewan and continued her study of Mandarin at TRU. She shared her gifts with students in the Kamloops area through various tutoring endeavors that she continued up until her passing. Her legacy of faithful perseverance, infectious laughter, prayerful devotion, and selfless love will be remembered by all who knew Lydia; her family, friends and colleagues, students, and all whose lives were touched by her light.

A memorial will be held at 11:00 am Saturday, December 29th 2012 at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church 1136 6th Avenue. In lieu of flowers, donations will be gratefully received by the Marjorie Willoughby Snowden Memorial Hospice House at 72 Whiteshield Crescent South (250) 372-1336. Arrangements in care of Schoening’s Funeral Home (250) 374-1454