RIP Nancy Moote
David Moul
February 21, 2020
RIP Nancy Moote: On Tuesday February 18, Nancy passed away at home with her family surrounding her. We keep Pat, Ann & Margaret Dickie and family in our prayers as we mourn the passing of our friend and beloved parishioner, Nancy. Nancy’s positive and generous spirit touched the lives of many in our Sunshine Coast community. She was an insightful journalist, a dedicated teacher, and a cheerful volunteer in local Girl Guides groups. In our St. Hilda’s family, she brought her wonderful sense of humour and enthusiasm into Sunday School gatherings, outreach activities and many other acts of kindness through the years. She will be dearly missed. A celebration of life is planned for this summer. May God grant eternal rest to Nancy and let light perpetual shine upon her.
October 10, 1962 – February 18, 2020
Nancy's quiet exterior belied a bold and adventurous spirit.
She could spend a morning kayaking on the glassy morning sea then haul up crab traps for an evening feast with her family.
She had travelled the world, spending time everywhere from a month alone in a Thai Buddhist monastery to a tour of Italy with friends.
Nancy was born in Ballston Spa, New York, to a British mother, Margaret (Tutt) and Canadian father, Fred, and grew up in Simsbury, Connecticut. She was a voracious reader from an early age, sneaking out of bed at night to read and sometimes crawling with her book under the couch where no one could disturb her. When not reading, Nancy could be found outside, delighting in the natural world, running and riding bikes with friends. She was the first of the neighbourhood children to not only stand on her bike seat but to let go of the handlebars to stand upright. Her close-knit group of friends remained lifelong soul mates.
Nancy attended Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, graduating with a BSc in biochemistry and computer science. She later moved to Montreal, where she worked as a research scientist, before spending a year traveling alone in Southeast Asia.
Nancy moved to B.C. to pursue a degree in writing at the University of Victoria. In a journalism internship on the Sunshine Coast she found her next calling and began a ten-year career as a journalist. She later brought her intelligence and wit to a third career as a high school teacher.
On the Sunshine Coast Nancy met her future husband, Patrick Dickie, and embarked on a family life of gardening, cooking, dogs, outdoor adventures, and raising daughters Ann and Margaret. Motherhood was her greatest joy, and she excelled at it. She and Pat frequently took the girls camping, including some memorable canoe trips up Sechelt Inlet.
Her cooking was legendary and she passed that love on to her daughters, telling her family, "Let's have spice in our lives" while creating "mystery baskets" for them to concoct dinners. She was proud to see her daughters grow into confident young women.
Nancy loved the outdoors. She was a Girl Guide leader who could light a fire with one match without fail.
Her steadfast belief in science still held room for faith. Nancy was a member of St. Hilda's Anglican Church where she attended regularly.
When faced with the devastating diagnosis of small-cell neuroendocrine cancer, Nancy applied all of her scientific knowledge, research training, and tenacity to fight it. At the same time she organized parties and took time each day to appreciate life. The many visits from friends and family bolstered her spirits in recent months.
Nancy leaves her husband Pat and their children, Ann and Margaret. She is also survived by her siblings Ann, Janet, Rob (Page), and sister-out-law Faith; her nephew Jaryd and niece Marissa; her mother-in-law Adele Dickie; and many deeply loved in-laws, nieces, nephews, cousins, and lifelong friends.
We will think of her when we are cooking, gardening, kayaking and snowshoeing. We will laugh as we remember her brazen public skinny-dipping, outbursts of heartfelt truths, cooking-adventures-turned-science-experiments, and other headfirst dives into life.
She leaves us waving on the shore as she journeys on, dipping her paddle.
A celebration of life will follow later this summer.
Nancy's quiet exterior belied a bold and adventurous spirit.
She could spend a morning kayaking on the glassy morning sea then haul up crab traps for an evening feast with her family.
She had travelled the world, spending time everywhere from a month alone in a Thai Buddhist monastery to a tour of Italy with friends.
Nancy was born in Ballston Spa, New York, to a British mother, Margaret (Tutt) and Canadian father, Fred, and grew up in Simsbury, Connecticut. She was a voracious reader from an early age, sneaking out of bed at night to read and sometimes crawling with her book under the couch where no one could disturb her. When not reading, Nancy could be found outside, delighting in the natural world, running and riding bikes with friends. She was the first of the neighbourhood children to not only stand on her bike seat but to let go of the handlebars to stand upright. Her close-knit group of friends remained lifelong soul mates.
Nancy attended Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, graduating with a BSc in biochemistry and computer science. She later moved to Montreal, where she worked as a research scientist, before spending a year traveling alone in Southeast Asia.
Nancy moved to B.C. to pursue a degree in writing at the University of Victoria. In a journalism internship on the Sunshine Coast she found her next calling and began a ten-year career as a journalist. She later brought her intelligence and wit to a third career as a high school teacher.
On the Sunshine Coast Nancy met her future husband, Patrick Dickie, and embarked on a family life of gardening, cooking, dogs, outdoor adventures, and raising daughters Ann and Margaret. Motherhood was her greatest joy, and she excelled at it. She and Pat frequently took the girls camping, including some memorable canoe trips up Sechelt Inlet.
Her cooking was legendary and she passed that love on to her daughters, telling her family, "Let's have spice in our lives" while creating "mystery baskets" for them to concoct dinners. She was proud to see her daughters grow into confident young women.
Nancy loved the outdoors. She was a Girl Guide leader who could light a fire with one match without fail.
Her steadfast belief in science still held room for faith. Nancy was a member of St. Hilda's Anglican Church where she attended regularly.
When faced with the devastating diagnosis of small-cell neuroendocrine cancer, Nancy applied all of her scientific knowledge, research training, and tenacity to fight it. At the same time she organized parties and took time each day to appreciate life. The many visits from friends and family bolstered her spirits in recent months.
Nancy leaves her husband Pat and their children, Ann and Margaret. She is also survived by her siblings Ann, Janet, Rob (Page), and sister-out-law Faith; her nephew Jaryd and niece Marissa; her mother-in-law Adele Dickie; and many deeply loved in-laws, nieces, nephews, cousins, and lifelong friends.
We will think of her when we are cooking, gardening, kayaking and snowshoeing. We will laugh as we remember her brazen public skinny-dipping, outbursts of heartfelt truths, cooking-adventures-turned-science-experiments, and other headfirst dives into life.
She leaves us waving on the shore as she journeys on, dipping her paddle.
A celebration of life will follow later this summer.
Published in The Coast Reporter on Feb. 28, 2020