Esther (Ann) Dyke

Beloved mother, grandmother and great grandmother, Esther ‘Ann’ Dyke, nee Bissett died on 30 December 2024. Ann was born in Vancouver, 5 December 1932. She is survived by her husband of 68 years, Lorne D. R. Dyke and their children Rhos (Andrea), Col (Diane), Katie (Stuart) and Drew (Jessica); grandchildren Helene (Bary), Lancelot (Emily) and Sutherland; Justin (Kari); Dean (Haley) and Dylan (Lauren); Asa and Rue; great grandchildren Hugo and Lincoln; Ashlyn and Aubrey; James and Navy and Lucas and her sister Elaine as well as nieces and nephews.

Ann was predeceased by parents Lance and Eleanor (Nonie) Bissett and sister Constance (Bill). Ann enjoyed challenging nuns at the Convent of the Sacred Heart middle school and pushing boundaries about how girls were expected to behave at Magee High School in Vancouver. 

Ann was an active member of the Delta Gamma sorority at the University of British Columbia (UBC), where she earned her BA (Poli Sci) in 1954. She was her class historian.

Ann cared deeply about socio-political exclusion of indigenous communities. While living in Winnipeg, between 1966-1979, Ann plunged into voluntary work. She undertook roles at Indian and Métis Friendship Centre of Winnipeg (https://friendshipcentres.ca/winnipeg/), Main Street Project(https://www.mainstreetproject.ca/) and Rossbrook House (https://rossbrookhouse.ca/), on whose behalf, Ann and her husband Lorne worked to connect Sister Geraldine MacNamara (Sr. Mac) with potential donors and supporters in the city in order to give indigenous children in Winnipeg a safe place to thrive .

Witty and ready to laugh - especially at a shared, clandestine observation of a banal absurdity, Ann was also sharp, happily willing to challenge contradictions of city of Winnipeg officials inclined to dismiss her causes. They rarely got their way and she often got hers.

Ann enjoyed travelling and learning about others’ cultures. Ann and Lorne maintained a lifelong enjoyment of Greece, where their two middle children were born, and the Caribbean, where their youngest was born.

Ann loved researching her family roots in Ireland, on her mother’s side; and England, on her father’s. She traced her maternal Yorke(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Yorke) family tree going back four generations, handwrote booklets for her children and passed her material to cousin Paul Yorke.

There will be no public service at Ann’s request. For those who wish to make a donation in Ann’s memory, please consider Rossbrook House (https://rossbrookhouse.ca/donate/)