Nancy Carol Baird

Nancy Carol Baird of Sechelt, BC, born December 21, 1929, passed away peacefully on Sunday November 16, 2025. The timing of her passing was as she wanted it: before both her 96th birthday, and Christmas, notoriously her least favourite season. She joins her kindred humbugs, sister Shirley Isabelle Miller, and former husband Thomas Baird, who passed away on December 1, 2024, and December 23, 2022, respectively.

Nancy is survived by her twin daughters, Carol Baird Ellan (Tim), of Sechelt and Kathy McLaughlin (Rob), of West Vancouver; her favourite son, Andy Baird (Shawna Katan) of Sproat Lake; her seven beloved grandchildren, Nicholas Ellan (Vancouver), Charlotte Ellan (David Kyle) (Sechelt), Becky Alexander (Kendol) (Sechelt), Jennifer Ellan (Penticton), Conor McLaughlin (Christie Bliss) (Sechelt), Madison Hall (Josh) (Nelson) and Samantha Ellan (Dale Edginton) (Vancouver); great-grandchildren Cecilia and Caroline Alexander, June and Carter Kyle, Levy Bliss (Sechelt) and Clara Bliss McLaughlin (all of Sechelt) and Avery Hall (Nelson); nieces Nancy Fabbro, (Sechelt), and Leslie Miller (Steve Phillips) (Surrey); grand nephew Marco Fabbro (North Vancouver); and extended family members in Vancouver and the U.S.

Nancy was a rare born-and-raised Vancouverite, as was her father, Bayard Carter. Her mother, Hilda Wheeldon, was born in Nottingham, England. Nancy had a rich and full life; some would say charmed. She enjoyed a 25-year marriage to Tom Baird, raising their three children in Kerrisdale until 1969 and in Kailua, Hawaii, from 1969 to 1972. Thankfully she resisted the urge to name her son after her father, which would have meant “Bayard” Baird instead of “Andy.” Although Nan and Tom split in 1976, Nancy maintained fondness and gratitude for the father of her children, remaining remarkably free of the bitterness that taints so many ended marriages.

In addition to many trips to Hawaii, Savary Island, Hopkins Landing and the Okanagan, more exotically Nancy travelled to South America, England, Greece, and Africa. Notably, she and her longtime friend Dorothy Goresky found themselves delayed at the Nairobi airport on June 30, 1976, while several important and concerned-looking men boarded the Air France plane they were waiting to board. After takeoff the flight touched down briefly at Entebbe, three days after the famous hijacking, likely to drop off dignitaries to oversee the

release of the 48 hostages that were released that day. Nan and Dorothy only realized what was happening when they saw the headlines in Athens after they arrived the next morning.

Nancy worked primarily in the clerical field, starting at Home Oil in Vancouver in the 50s; spending some time eons ago at law firms that included names such as Twining and Braidwood; and most recently running a word processing business under the name, “The Good Word,” in the West End, where she lived for 20 years. There, through her work and her many spiritual activities, she met close friends Rhonda and Miles Simons, who remember her fondly; Barney, Lawrence, and Jullin Hadden, who became a wonderful companion and hairdresser to Nancy and kindly passed her apartment on to her, when she moved to Mexico. Nancy lived there happily until age 87, when it came time to step up her level of care.

Carol and Tim were pleased to be able to have Nancy join them after they moved to Sechelt, in May 2017. Nan’s sister Shirley was a long-time resident of Davis Bay, and Shirley’s daughter (Nan’s namesake) Nancy Fabbro came to Sechelt from Whistler in the 2000’s. Carol’s daughter Becky moved to the Sunshine Coast in 2013 (meeting Kendol shortly after), followed by Charlotte and Dave in 2021, meaning four great grandchildren on the Coast by August 2021! Kathy’s son Conor was posted to the Sechelt RCMP Detachment in 2020, by 2025 adding two additional great grandchildren.

The last 8 years of Nancy’s life were spent contentedly in a ground floor suite with her beloved cat, Swee’pea, at Tim and Carol’s house on Heron Place, close to three generations of family. Until Nancy voluntarily gave up her driver’s licence just before she turned 90 (after “hitting a few people” – thankfully only fender benders), she could be seen driving her red Mustang at 30kph down Trail Avenue sporting her Harry Potter Snitch aerial ornament. Her outings were mostly to Clayton’s Heritage Market, once or twice a week. When she no longer went to them, Clayton’s lovingly delivered groceries to her every week until she passed.

Grandma Nancy enjoyed the mixed blessing of many boisterous Ellan family gatherings upstairs, most of which she happily attended, traveling upstairs on the trusty Acorn Stairlift. Special thanks to Dale for a heroic catch at the top, that one time. The last of the family gatherings was on Thanksgiving this year, with all of the Ellan kids and their families in attendance, including Nick, Sam and Dale coming over from Vancouver and Jen making the trek from Penticton, fortuitously commemorated by a professional four-generation photo at Porpoise Bay, thanks to Charlotte’s foresight. We will now forever treasure that last family photo.

Kath, Rob, Andy and Shawna were frequent visitors to Heron Place and were thankful to have seen Nancy just weeks before her passing. She also saw Conor fairly regularly, and sometimes his mate Christie, unfortunately occasionally in their role as first responders. In his first month in the Sechelt posting, Conor memorably texted his mom Kath to say, “You know it’s a small town when you arrive at the emergency ward on your first shift to check in a prisoner, and the first person you see sitting on a gurney, waving and smiling, is your grandma!”

Nancy had several admissions to Sechelt | Shíshálh Hospital over the years for relatively minor falls, which she navigated with remarkable aplomb and good spirits, as did the hospital staff. Without much in the way of intentionality, Nancy could be a tad pedantic about grammatical errors, or petulant about perceived inattention, but she overcame any resultant caregiver consternation with her keen sense of humour and infectious laugh.

Thanks to the wonderful care provided by Sechelt Home Care Services and Nurse Next Door, apart from the hospital admissions Nancy was able to gracefully age in place, remaining remarkably healthy and vibrant, literally until her dying day, when she acceded to yet another paramedic visit to attend to some flu-like symptoms. Characteristically, she bantered feistily with her ever-attentive care worker, Chelsea; corrected the grammar of the lovely paramedics, Scott and Angus, (“You mean ‘lie’ down, dear, not ‘lay’ down.”); and then called them “handsome” on the way out the door. Sechelt Hospital Emergency staff were (again) wonderfully responsive as Nan took a sudden turn at triage, and Nurse Michael made sure that Carol was able to join her (with Andy on the phone and Kath on FaceTime) within minutes of her admission. Special mention also to Bex, our lovely friend/neighbour/nurse, for whose presence, comfort and care Carol was very grateful. Mom was gone within half an hour, quietly and peacefully easing into the arms of the angels she knew were waiting for her.

Mom promised to send signs when she left us, if indeed she was right about her abiding belief in the hereafter. The next day the overhead lights in her suite (which she detested) had dimmed – irreparably, it seems; and Carol found this huge rhododendron bush blooming in Mom’s favourite colour, in November, at the Hospital three days after she passed. You may take from that what you will.

Your laughter, your warmth, your love so true,

Mom, not a day goes by that we don’t miss you.

"Love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation."

-Kahlil Gibran

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