Anne was born and raised in Kent, UK. She attended a convent primary school, boarding school, and private college. With her dear friend Susan, she embarked on a grand adventure around the world—living in Canada, Australia, and Lae, New Guinea, before travelling extensively throughout Southeast Asia and journeying on the Trans-Siberian Railway back to the UK.
Her international life continued as she lived in Paris, France (working with UNESCO); Beirut, Lebanon; and Kinshasa, Congo (with the Foreign Office), before returning to Canada in 1974.
Anne and Michael were married (after 11 years) in London, England, while Michael was a student at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He was the love of her life, and together they shared 30 incredible years. Their work and travels took them to Lagos, Nigeria; The Gambia; Pakistan (where their darling daughter Rebecca was born); Honolulu, Hawaii; Manila, Philippines; and Washington, D.C., where they lived for 13 years. In 1995, they settled in East Sooke, where they planted more than 7,000 trees, mostly with their own hands.
Following Michael’s passing in 2005, Anne began a new career. From 2008 to 2012, she developed Sooke Hanger, preserving 80 acres of parkland and woodland. She was deeply engaged in her community, with passions that included politics, the environment and duplicate bridge.
Anne was predeceased by her loving husband, Michael J. Porter. She is survived by her stepchildren, Tanya Knorren (Jim, Taryn, Shelby), Sandra Hoshizaki (Dale, Breanna), Erik Porter (Nicole, Claire), and Owen Porter (Dorritt, Conan), and by her darling daughter, Rebecca Steele (Shawn, Charlotte, Sawyer). She played a crucial role in all of the lives that she touched and will forever be missed.
Anne lived an amazing, adventurous life – no regrets.
A Memorial Service & Reception will be held at 10:00am on Friday, September 26th in the Sequoia Centre at McCall Gardens, 4665 Falaise Drive, Victoria, BC.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Rocky Point Bird Observatory or a charity of choice.
Condolences may be offered to the family below.
McCall Gardens
www.mccallgardens.com
This obituary is the property of the “Porter” family and may not be reproduced, distributed, or altered in any way without prior written consent.
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Melanie Dawson-Whisker
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Dawn Climie & Mike Adams It was the time of the supermoon eclispe in fall of 2015. It was misting but there was enough light coming through that morning to make the moss glow and the fir and maple hypergreen. We entered off Gillespie past that broken down sign and both had the same thought; Jurassic Park! Exploring the community was surreal; alone with the rock and the moss and the forest and the mist and the electricity in the air.
When Anne drove up; yellow slicker and sou’wester, dogs, signature makeup, smile like the moon… we fell in love with her on the spot. I believe we were even on Lot 12 at the time. She invited us back to her home on the peak; tea for Dawn and a beer for Anne and I, and she told us the story of the land. Our fate was sealed.
That night watching the massive blood moon float over Sooke Harbour, Dawn and I knew we found our home.
Honestly, not being islanders and having just walked this formidable warren of valley and high reaching stone, I had no idea what to do or how to do it when it came to trying to build here. But hearing of Anne’s astounding adventures, her visions and her beautiful, loving bamboozle of Michael to buy the place… it was impossible not to be inspired, impressed and feel very much not alone in this endeavor of creating a home.
Regretfully there became a distance over the years since: differences that we should never have let in and a lack of communication that we should never have allowed. More recently though, we could feel that distance beginning to shrink. We had hope that we would close that distance and we believe we were on that path.
These people… they come into our lives and open our minds to new ideas, new possibilities. We will always remember Anne for that. We will always love her for who she was… and the possibilities she gifted us.
We give wholeheartedly our deepest condolences to Anne and Michael’s entire family, now left to take the tiller.
Dawn Climie & Mike Adams, Lot 12
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Sarah Cornish Anne was a warm and loving person who had a real passion for life and was devoted to her family. She will be much missed.
Our love and thoughts are with you all.
Sarah, Andrew, Alexander and Elizabeth Cornish
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John & Jonathan Gready Anne will be much missed by all the Gready family for her humour, charisma and inspiration. She will be sorely missed
John and Jonathan Gready
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Diana Pogue So much love and sympathy to all the Family.
Dear Anne was a lovely and insightful woman who shared with us the gift of
her warm and generous friendship. A wonderful memory and example freely given.Diana Pogue
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Jackie Boulter So much sympathy and love to all the family. We will miss Anne more than we can say. She brought humour, warmth and joy wherever she went, and we feel honoured to have known her.
Jackie, David, Nicholas, Emily and Tim Boulter
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Jim Mitchell and Eva Banks Thank you for letting us know the sad news, Rebecca.
Please accept our condolences to you and the family.
Jim and Eva
Our deepest condolences to you and your family, Rebecca. Anne was such a strong, capable, smart, warm compassionate human being, with a wonderful sense of humour. She lived an incredibly rich and full life. We have fond memories of our time together with her and Michael.
May you find comfort in the love and support surrounding you. Our thoughts and love are with you.
Melanie and Alan