Obituaries

Anna Beatrice Fernando, 87 years old, passed away peacefully on November 4, 2021 at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, BC. Surrounded by family both near and far (virtually), she was loved to the very end. Born in Diyalogoda, Sri Lanka on March 1, 1934, she was number 4 in a family of 7 children. She married her first husband young, which resulted in three beautiful daughters. After becoming a widow several years later, she was remarried, being stepmother to four children, and having two more beautiful daughters. This marriage lasted 33 years until her second husband’s death, at which point she immigrated to Vancouver, Canada in 2000 at the age of 66, making the difficult transition to a North American way of life but adapted quickly.

Anna had an infectious smile and she was very much a peacemaker. Never one to hold a grudge, she always forgave because of her profound faith in God and devotion to Mother Mary, praying and reading the Bible daily. In Vancouver, she was a member of St. Joseph’s Parish, where she enjoyed listening to her grandchildren play piano and sing in the choir.

She is predeceased by her two husbands (Lionel and Isidore) and stepson (Christopher), and is survived by her stepchildren and children, Anthony, Bernadette, Ranee, Lalani, Mali, Romani, Neomi, and Ruwani, as well as 17 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. A funeral mass will be celebrated on Monday, November 15, 2021 at 11:30am at St. Joseph’s Parish (1612 E. 18th Ave, Vancouver, BC), followed by her burial at Gardens of Gethsemani in Surrey. In lieu of flowers, memorials or donations may be made to the Alzheimer Society of British Columbia (https://alzheimer.ca/bc/en).