June 23,1966 – June 22, 2015
Dana passed away in the Campbell River Hospital on June 22nd, her devoted husband Wes Schmidt as always, by her side. Dana is survived by her son Rhys Davis and daughter Carly Davis, parents Sandra and Hadley Ohlinger, brother Paul Ohlinger (Amanda), sister Carla Nielsen (Todd) uncle Blaine Ohlinger (Marnie), uncle Greg Brown (Lynn), as well as precious nieces Jenna and Kianna Ohlinger and Sophia and Layla Nielsen. We are so grateful to Dana’s long time friends Annagret Levesque, Lisa Masters, Brenda Guthrie, Debbie Jagger, Tuula Goodwin and especially Darlene Bently and our Amanda Ohlinger who gave so much of themselves to care for Dana in the last few months.
Dana enjoyed fishing with Wes and his dad Sheldon, being at the lake with a bunch of friends and travelling to someplace where it wasn’t raining, preferably hot. She loved dressing up for Halloween, trying to play golf and having a special coffee at the Spit. She could dig a garden in the morning and paint a room in the afternoon and still have time to make something for a kids’ bake sale. Children loved her.
Laughter came easily for her, this in spite of knowing she would not be with us for long. She kept her knowledge of her illness and it’s progress to herself and those closest to her, enduring the ever increasing treatments for her brain tumour with quiet courage. If you saw her last year walking down the street, you would not know that her pace was a little quicker because time was short. There were kids to care for, loved ones to hug, flowers to plant, her dog Cali to walk, dinner to plan. You would not notice the struggle to speak at times or the slight tremor in her hand. You would see the warm smile, the toss of her hair, the ready laughter.
There were things to do. The sun is shining, keep going.
A memorial service will be held at St. Peters Anglican Church at 1pm on Saturday June 27th. The Rev. Venerable Dr. Blaire Haggart officiating.