Member spotlight
Heather Davies
Welcome to our Member Spotlight, a feature that we’re adding, occasionally, to the guild’s newsletter. Our first member in the spotlight is Heather Davies.
Heather was born in London, England, to Welsh parents. During the war, she and her sister were sent to live with their grandparents in Wales. Heather began her nursing career in London. In 1963 she moved to Guelph, where her sister and new baby were living. While awaiting a work permit for a job at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Heather traveled to Vancouver to visit a friend. She fell in love with the west coast and, as the US work visa was delayed, Heather decided to stay in Vancouver.
Upon moving to Vancouver, Heather worked in the neurology unit at VGH. Following that, there was a stint in a remote northern Alberta village, where the nearest doctor was 120 miles away. Heather recalled successfully delivering a pair of twins while working on her own! Returning to Vancouver, Heather completed her nursing degree at UBC and joined the open heart OR team at St Paul’s Hospital, where she worked until retirement 30 years later, in 2000.
Heather’s mother was an avid stitcher and made dresses and clothes for her two daughters. Toys were limited during the war and Heather learned to sew by making her own dolls. She began quilting seriously after retiring and joined the VMQG in the early years when the meetings were held at Spool of Thread.
When asked if she had a favourite colour, Heather paused and then declared that there was no favourite, but that she doesn’t care for batiks. A recent quilt finish was a donation to her choir’s silent auction.
As we were wrapping up our conversation, Heather casually mentioned that she’s completed seven marathons—four in Vancouver and one each in Toronto, London and New York City. What an achievement!
Thank you, Heather, for sharing some of your history with us and for your ongoing support of our guild.
