H.W. Wallace Cremation & Burial Centre.

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Lavern Dempster

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Lavern Dempster

Date of Death: December 3, 2020

Tribute

Lavern Dempster passed away peacefully in his Duncan, BC home on Dec 3,
2020, surrounded by love and his family. He was 83.
Lavern will be best remembered for his deep and unwavering commitment to
God, and a life filled with the most important things. His faith was an anchor in
all aspects of his life: family, friends, decisions, career, and community.
Lavern loved and treasured his family, and was a kind and caring son,
husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, elder, and friend.
He enjoyed a rich life filled with a 40 year career as a teacher, many travels around the world,
gardening and reading, among so many other qualities and experiences.
Lavern was born in July 1937 to Clarence and Florence Dempster in
Strathclaire, Manitoba. The family then moved to Iron Bridge, Ontario where he
grew up, began a teaching career, and then moved to Europe to teach with the
Canadian Armed forces. After returning to Canada in 1968, he moved to
Vancouver where he married Elaine, before settling in Duncan, BC and starting
a family. Vancouver Island remained home ever since.
He is predeceased by his parents, sister Audrey, brother in laws Garfield Carlyle and Vince Dobson, and
mother-in-law Lena Openshaw.
Lavern will be loved and fondly remembered by his wife of 46 years Elaine,
son Graeme (Rachelle) Dempster and their daughters Amelie and Zara, daughter
Cheryl (Neil) Galloway and their children Sawyer, Nixon and Vaia, and daughter
Shawna (Scott) Parks and their children Estelle and Frederick, his sister
Dorothy Dobson as well as many nieces & nephews, cousins and
many friends.
A life well lived, we give thanks that he has gone on to his reward.

Condolences

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From: H.W. Wallace Cremation & Burial Centre

H.W. Wallace Cremation and Burial Centre Staff send our condolences to family and friends.

From: Brian Parnell
Relation: Lavern rented me storage space for my car from Fall to Spring.

I stored my classic car in Laverns storage facility for a couple of years. I found him to be a very kind soul and he had many great stories. My condolences to Laverns family and friends.

From: Brian Stott
Relation: teaching partner

Dear Elaine,
I was very saddened to hear of Lavern’s passing. My heart goes out to you and your family.

From: Greg and Karen Lonsdale
Relation: Longtime friends.

Elaine and Family, our sincerest condolences on the loss of Lavern, we just read his passing in the Citizen today. Our thoughts are with you.

From: Cliff Moffat
Relation: Parent/teacher affiliation.

My wife Joyce and I feel very privileged to have known Lavern. We appreciated his knowledge and compassion during the years he taught our son Morgan and daughter Christie, during the years they attended Bench Elementary School. He will be fondly remembered by our family.

From: Ian and Sally Gregory
Relation: I taught with Lavern at Bench school.

We are so sorry to hear of Lavern’s death. He was a lovely person with a great sense of humour and he cared about people. We send our condolences to Elaine and the family.

From: Grant Scholefield
Relation: Friend , past teacher, past customer

Fond memories as my grade 4 teacher. I would run into Mr Dempster after retirement and the stories of his rather large garden were always a delight to hear about. He was a great guy !

From: Margaret St Cyr
Relation: friend of Elaine

Dear Elaine and Family,
I was very saddened to read of Lavern’s passing. I will always remember him in your amazing garden. You are all in my thoughts and prayers.

From: Elizabeth Abercrombie
Relation: Friend and friend to my late mom, Jill Abercrombie who taught with him at Bench Elem.

Mr. Dempster was one of my elementary school teachers. He was kind, thoughtful, dedicated and when I met him again as an adult, he was just as interested in my life and, like when I was young, he still made me feel important. I remember him fondly and wish to pass on my condolences to all who loved him.

From: Bill and Roberta Fritz
Relation: Family physician and fellow gardener

We are so sorry to learn of Lavern’s passing. Before my retirement as his family physician, I would always look forward to seeing Lavern whenever his name appeared on my patient list for the day. He had a certain calmness about him that was infectious. It also helped that 10% of our time would be spent on his medical problems while the remaining 90% was spent on sharing our gardening challenges, successes and failures. It don’t know if he felt any better when he left the office, but I certainly did. So it is easy to understand why he will be truly missed.

Service Schedule

Private service arrangements have been made.

Memorial Gifts

The family has not designated a preferred charity at this time.

Thank You Notice

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