Surrounded by family, our Mom and Wife, Gerri, died on Tuesday, August 7, 2018 in Victoria, BC from brain cancer. Gerri was outgoing, adventurous and independent with a fun-loving, giant heart. She will be remembered for bringing joy into many lives. Born in San Jose, California in 1943 to Portuguese-Hawaiians Mary and Louis B. Lucas. Always a “California Girl”, her childhood and youth were spent in fruit orchards and at the beach in Santa Cruz. Many in Victoria know Gerri through her 32-year nursing career, during which she worked at Victoria General and Royal Jubilee Hospitals.
Gerri leaves her husband of 52 years, Djalil; daughters Rachelle and Shirene; son Karim; sons-in-law Trevor and Jason; daughter-in-law Thuy; brother Lou; 10 grandchildren; nieces and nephews and many, many friends.
Gerri was especially proud to have a big family. She was passionate about being a devoted, hands-on Gramma to Nicholas, Kieran, Simon, Lily, Henry, Malik, Aliya, Zahra, William and Kayvon. She was with them from the early baby days and could be counted on to regularly visit, call, Skype, text, and email regardless of how far away they lived. She was a loving sister to Lou and also remained a very involved Aunt Gerri to Robert, David, Diane and Kathy and became “Gramma Gerri” to the children in her circle of friends.
Gerri was extremely social; she could talk to anyone and was great at building community, starting conversations with strangers everywhere. A family vacation to Maui was an opportunity for Gerri to go through the phone book and call anyone who may have been related, then taking us to knock on their doors. She had a spectacular ability to stay connected and worked hard to remain close to friends for 68+ years. Without a doubt, over the last 8 months, her friends kept her going during her illness and were a great support to her family.
Gerri’s adventures took her to more than 20 countries; teaching English and nursing in Iran, swimming with pink dolphins (and piranhas) in Brazil, holding koalas in Australia and bathing an elephant in Myanmar.
Gerri’s fight was inspiring and her cancer diagnosis did not stop her from taking all of her grandchildren and children to see a play one week after getting out of the hospital or hosting a Spoken Word party at her house and a ukulele jam session in her palliative care room. She also took great pleasure in a good golf game, animals, her ukulele and her garden.
Special thanks to Gerri’s caregiver, Nancy, to Dr. JP McGhie and his team at the Jubilee BC Cancer Clinic, to the incredibly dedicated medical team at Saanich Peninsula Hospital Palliative Care, and the many medical professionals who cared for Gerri.
In lieu of flowers, Gerri wants you to talk to your neighbours and have fun in your community.
Condolences may be offered to the family below.
McCall Gardens
www.mccallgardens.com
11 Responses
I met Gerri and newborn Shireen on an airplane from Belgian in 1972. This meeting led to 46 years of friendship that has meant so much to me. We visited in Victoria every time we came to Vancouver and Djalil and Gerri visited us in Texas. I will miss all our phone calls, letters and emails that we shared through the years. Gerri was a great friend and I will remember all the wonderful memories of 46 years.
Rahim and I send our condolences to Djalil and the family.