Our beloved Aunt Phyllis Randle lost her courageous battle with terminal bone cancer on Canada Day. A proud Canadian, for 80 years she epitomized the strength, passion, loyalty and all that is outstanding about this great country. Phyllis constantly inspired hope and encouragement, making the world a better place, one person at a time.

She was born to pioneer parents Charlie and Sophie Brandt, in the small frontier town of Fort St John in the Peace River country. In the early years, her entrepreneurial parents provided for their family through trapping, when fur coats were in high demand, and as property owners in the small town of Fort St John.

At end of WWII, her family ventured north up the newly built Alaska Highway and operated a Roadhouse, Muncho Lake Lodge, which catered to the needs of tourists on route to Alaska. In this small, isolated community, Phyllis shared life closely with her immediate family, developing an incredible work ethic that carried her through life. Her father believed strongly, "just as our sled dogs work together, we each have to pull our own weight in life."

Phyllis, second child in a family of four, forever the tomboy, loved the challenge of living in the wilderness of the north country. She fearlessly, but with care and calculated risk, led her sibling into what could have been dangerous territory: mountain climbing expeditions amongst abundant wildlife; boating voyages on glacier-fed Muncho Lake with an inability to swim and no life jackets; driving the then-treacherous Alaska Highway when too young to obtain a driver's licence, which was often a necessary act for the good of the family. Phyllis thrived on life's challenges!

In this remote northern community, school was unavailable for the few children living there. Charlie, a man ahead of his time, was determined to educate his three daughters, providing an opportunity for them to become independent women. He wanted them to never have to depend on any man. The only option for an education at that time was the residential Catholic school Notre Dame, located 462 miles south on the Alaska Highway in Dawson Creek. So, Phyllis at age six and her older sister Louise were bused to Notre Dame residential school.

They remained at residential school for a year where Phyllis suffered malnutrition and developed the bone deforming condition of rickets. After her return home with severe hair and fingernail loss and a skeletal body, she was nursed back to health over the course of a year, through the loving care of her parents.

Her father Charlie, in quiet anger, applied to the provincial government to establish a school at Muncho Lake, wanting no other of his children to endure the treatment and outcome of residential school.

Years later, after her return to live in her hometown Fort St John, Phyllis completed high school with little effort. She was born with an incredible gift of brains and the good sense to use them. With a natural affinity to care for others, she followed her dream to become a nurse, completing Registered Nurses training at Vancouver General Hospital. Later in life, she went on to complete a Diploma of Public Health Nursing in Applied Science from UBC.

After nursing training, she returned to Fort St John to work in the operating room of the local hospital. During her short time there, she met and married the love of her life, Constable Jack Randle of the RCMP. Their first home was established in Surrey in the lower mainland.

Phyllis, always a doer, immediately obtained her Public Health certification while working full time. She was instrumental in helping to set up the Home Care Program in BC, and she worked for over 30 years in the field of Public Health.

At the end of her career, Phyllis thoroughly enjoyed teaching nursing at the University of the Fraser Valley in Chilliwack, and as we know the highest level of learning occurs through the act of teaching.

Always looking for a challenge, Phyllis and Jack changed careers when Jack retired from the RCMP. They owned and operated a motel, Colonial 900, in the small community of Hope for a period of 27 years. To employ her creative skills in her spare time, she designed and built a magnificent west coast home on Thacker Mountain in Hope, where they lived upon retirement. At different times, Phyllis brought both her very elderly parents home and nursed them with grace and dignity through their end of life.

Always concerned for the greater good of humanity, and even after surgery and an extensive radiation treatment for stage three uterine cancer, Phyllis volunteered in 2004 to attend a tsunami natural disaster. With a first responder Canadian medical team, she travelled to and worked in Indonesia after the Sumatra Earthquake. As a nurse practitioner, she attended the injured amongst an array of bodies, destruction, and mayhem never seen before.

Six years later with Food for the Hungry Canada, she again volunteered her medical services in poverty-stricken Haiti, after devastation from an earthquake. She worked in Child Hope, an impoverished orphanage in Port-au-Prince that had been deluged with injured earthquake survivors. Phyllis acted with fierce determination and relentless courage, setting the course for all those around her to follow the trailblazing path she initiated. She was a true leader of the 21st century living global awareness.

Phyllis had a passion for gardening, reading, and cherished times with friends and family, and she never ceased to love the journey of learning. Travelling extensively throughout the world by land excursion and cruising, Phyllis and Jack considered themselves blessed to be able to do so. Just over two years ago, they sold their home in Hope and made a quiet move to the community of Craig Bay, near Parksville on Vancouver Island. Here she fell in love with the island lifestyle, the tranquility of being close to the ocean and all the mystery it holds.

We bid farewell to a capable and caring woman, whose feisty spirit defines her and lives on through all who were fortunate to know her: her loving husband Jack of 58 years; her beloved youngest sister Jeanette and brother-in-law Neil MacKay; her loving nieces and nephews Janeil MacKay (Chris Gear), Dana Dunne (Keith Dunne), Kevin Maichen (Trudy), and Karl Maichen (Sheila) Sheri Rogers; sister-in-law Helen Randle; and many cousins and great nephews and nieces. Phyllis was predeceased by her parents, oldest sister Louise Maichen, and only brother Wayne Brandt, who all played a role in shaping who she was.

Before passing and while fighting pain in the last stage of her cancer, Phyllis spoke of her wonderful life, her love for Jack, her many wonderful caring friends, and the amazing experiences she lived. She had only one regret: that they never had children through no choice of their own. Dana and I were raised in an atmosphere of love that extended to our Auntie Fina and Uncle Jack. Fina was our affectionate family term for Phyllis. She referred to us as "daughters of her heart" and the love for Auntie Fina will go on.

In our lives, Fina will be the voice whispering encouragement in times of doubt. She will be the strong hand on our back when we stumble and the warmth we feel in our hearts, when we remember her kindness like a warm blanket of snow. It covers everything and makes it beautiful.

Rest well in God's care our darling Fina and we will always love you!