The Celebration of Life service for Leona will be held as follows:
Massey Theatre
735 8th Ave, New Westminster, BC.
Saturday, January 8th at 1pm.
Interpreters (and DB Interpreters ) will be provided.
Celebrate Leona Parr-Hamel’s life
On Sunday December 12th, members of the Interpreting and Braille Services Department at VCC bid a deeply sad farewell to their friend and colleague, Leona Parr-Hamel, a truly remarkable and beautiful spirit who left this world far too soon after a short but valiant battle with cancer.
Leona graduated from the Douglas College Sign Language Interpreting Program in 1989. During the next two decades she served the Deaf, hard of hearing, and Deaf-Blind communities with an endless supply of passion, dedication and professionalism. Fortunately for us, Leona also brought her love of interpreting to students at VCC and in October 2008, she joined the college as a permanent employee. Leona thoroughly enjoyed being part of our college and often commented how grateful she was to be part of the VCC community.
Leona came to work every day with a smile and a delightfully contagious laugh that brightened everyone’s day. She was all about giving of oneself, of teamwork and how best to serve our students. Her legacy will be her immeasurable love of interpreting, her profound respect for the communities she served, her warmth and sensitivity, her positive and genuine nature, her generosity of spirit and the limitless joy she brought to everyone and anyone who called her friend, colleague or family.
Leona was a devoted wife, and loving mother, an adored sister and aunt, a caring daughter and a true friend. She will be sadly missed by those who were so very fortunate to have known her.
The Interpreting and Braille Services Department is inviting the college community to celebrate Leona’s contribution to VCC on Tuesday December 14th between 12:00 and 2:00 p.m. in building B room 1223. If you’d like to drop by, have a cup of coffee, or leave a card for the family, please feel free to do so. Cards of condolence for the family can be dropped off at the IBS office until Friday December 17th. You may also post on FriendsofLeona Parr-Hamel on Facebook.
A community event to honour and celebrate Leona will take place in the upcoming weeks. Details will be provided to the college community.
If you’d like to view the obituary click here
