Lorraine Meldean Burnside

We are sad to report that Lorraine passed away peacefully on Thursday May 14.  She was at home surrounded by family.  She was thankful that she was able to chose the time and manner of her death.  Her health had declined a lot in the past 3 weeks and was only able to shuffle back and forth between the couch and bed.  Just washing her hair would exhaust her.  She was always tired but she was never in any pain, which was a blessing.  Taking care of her wound was also physically and mentally draining.  And she knew that it would not get better.  She knew that she would no longer be able to do the loves of her life – tennis and golf.  She last played golf in Palm Springs on March 8 and last played tennis about April 15.

We were able to travel to Whistler last weekend and we enjoyed Mother’s Day dinner at Nicklaus North, at her request.  She was able to sit for the entire dinner but was exhausted. 

Carlos, Michael and I, along with her many friends, will miss her greatly.

I helped her prepare the short life summary below, which you may find interesting.

A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to Lions Gate Hospital Foundation and BC Cancer Foundation.

Thank you.

Don

*****

Lorraine Burnside

January 31, 1949 – May 14, 2026

I was born in the middle of winter in Winnipeg Manitoba. 

My fondest memories of my youth were spending weekends in the spring and fall and all of July and August at the family cottage at Nutimik Lake east of Winnipeg, together with my Mom, Dean, and my Dad, Mel, and my brother Don and sister Cheryl.

I got my BA degree in psychology at the U of Manitoba and got a job as a counsellor at Childrens Home, for troubled kids.  I worked there for 2 difficult years and learned that social work was not for me.  So, I joined the Chartered Accounting firm of Deloitte and after 14 courses and 3 years, got my CA.  This was the biggest achievement of my life to that time and I was very proud of myself. 

I survived the cold winters until 1980 but then I decided to pack everything that I owned into my old Chevy Vega and drove to Vancouver (it died enroute and I had to hitch a ride).  Shortly after arriving I joined Collins Barrow CAs as a manager.  There I met my husband of 46 years, Don.  We moved to Japan in 1982 where I found a job with Arthur Young CPAs, doing US taxes.  We traveled throughout Japan, and Thailand and Hong Kong, for 3 years and adopted our son Michael in Japan in 1984.  Our time in Japan was filled with many exciting adventures.  We returned to Vancouver in 1985 and I worked as a part time independent CA while raising our sons.  Carlos was adopted in Chile in 1989.  My boys were the loves of my life, along with Don.

In 1995 and 1999, I was diagnosed with breast cancer but with treatment, was able to survive that.  I was blessed to be able raise our sons and to see them grow into young men.

Both Don and I loved golf so we travelled on golf holidays to Palm Springs, Ireland and twice to Spain.  I spent about 2 months per year in Palm Springs for over 20 years, to avoid the cold and rain of Vancouver.  We had a place at Bermuda Dunes Golf Club for the month of November for the past 3 years and really enjoyed that.  Palm Springs was my “happy place”.  In Whistler, we joined the Nicklaus North Golf Club in 2017 and enjoyed unlimited golf in the summers.  We also traveled around BC on golf holidays, often with friends. 

We also enjoyed a number of visits to the family cottage at Nutimik Lake, with my brother Don and his wife Joanne.

We had a great group of camping friends who started camping in about 1986 to take our kids, but we continued as adults even after the kids stopped camping.  We enjoyed wonderful trips around BC.

Every Thanksgiving, we would go to Saratoga Beach, north of Comox and have a wonderful weekend, golfing and walking the beach, with family, including my sister-in-law Karen and her husband Sean.  It was a Nishio family tradition for over 60 years. 

We shared a townhouse in Whistler for 30 years with 2 other couples and enjoyed many weekends (while working) and weeks (after retirement) skiing in the winter and golfing in the summer. 

I have been a member of the North Shore Winter Club for over 30 years which lead to becoming a member of “The Bags” hockey team.  We played together for about 20 years and became very close friends.  Even after we retired from hockey, we continued to meet socially and it has been one of the big pleasures of my life. 

I also loved playing tennis at the Club and have made a large group of very good tennis friends.  Tennis was a huge part of my life, both playing and organizing.

In 2024, we travelled to Cali Colombia for the wedding of Carlos and Alejandra, who is from Colombia.  We did a little travelling in Colombia after the wedding and it was a memorable experience.

The past 5 years have been the best of my life, playing as much tennis as I wanted, often 5 days a week, and as much golf as I wanted.  Also, my boys have become settled as young men and that has given me great comfort.  I am very proud of them.  I have lived a blessed life.

Unfortunately, the cancer came back to get me and this time there was no escape. 

Good bye and love to you all.