Patricia "Pat" de VRIES

In the wee hours of October 20, 2025, Patricia (Pat) de Vries-Little died at Oyster Harbour Seniors Community in Ladysmith, British Columbia. She is survived by her children, Maggie (Roland), Peter (Jennifer) and Mark; her grandchildren, Jeanie and Ben; her great-grandson, Anu; her sister-in-law, Donna Little, and three generations of nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, Llewellyn and Flora Little, her brothers, Jamie and Hugh, her sister (and partner in crime) Jean, and her daughter, Sarah.

The youngest child of two medical missionaries, Pat was born in Taipei, Taiwan on April 17, 1938. She grew up in Guelph, Ontario, and studied English Literature at the University of Toronto. As a child, she loved dogs and horses, math, feeding seagulls, and her sister’s stories. In her university years and beyond, she was actively involved in the Student Christian Movement, where she met Jan de Vries whom she married in 1960. Marriage to a soil scientist took her eventually to Vancouver, where she and Jan—with Maggie and Peter in tow by then—bought an old house and settled down to raise their family, which grew in 1968 when they adopted Mark and again in 1970, when they adopted Sarah. In their overgrown yard they raised a goat and chickens and rabbits, earning the title “barnyard” among some people in the West Point Grey neighbourhood.

In 1975, Pat went back to school to study nursing. Her nursing career began in 1979, after the end of her marriage, and continued until her early retirement in 1993. She was head nurse on a geriatric ward first at the UBC Hospital, then at Vancouver General. Pat’s youngest child, Sarah, had struggles growing up, many of which her family didn’t understand until much, much later. She lived some years on Vancouver’s Downtown East Side and wrestled with drug addiction. In 1990, she had a daughter, Jeanie, and was unable to raise her herself. Pat did not hesitate to take her in. Two-and-a-half years later, Pat moved with Jeanie to Ontario to join forces with her big sister—well-known children’s author Jean Little. In 1996, Sarah had a second child, and Ben joined Pat, Jean and Jeanie back in Guelph. So, through her fifties, sixties and seventies, Pat raised a second family.

During that time, Pat became very involved in the church she grew up in, Chalmers United (later Three Willows), where with others she started a food bank and joined with other Guelph congregations to serve Saturday night dinners to those in need. The food bank grew and grew; decades later it is still going strong

Just to keep life interesting, they had many pets during those years: numerous dogs, several cats, a hedgehog, two African Grey parrots, and toward the end a rescue parrot that was unable to lift its head properly. She loved her overgrown gardens in the three houses they lived in during her twenty-seven years back in Guelph, and she hosted many family meals in those chaotic households. She also travelled with her sister (who was blind), driving her to school visits, assisting her in the giving of speeches, once as far away as Bulgaria, where a translation was being launched. It was a full and fascinating life.

After the death of her sister in 2020, Pat packed up, sold her house and moved back to the West Coast to live with her daughter and son-in-law in Ladysmith, on Vancouver Island. The Pandemic cramped her style a bit, but she got out to Aquafit classes and as soon as it was possible began attending services at Ladysmith First United, where she joined the choir, and was a bright and welcome presence right up until Thanksgiving Sunday of this year. The arrival of her first greatgrandchild in December 2023 filled her life with joy. In April of this year, with mild dementia setting in, and her mobility diminishing, she moved into Oyster Harbour Seniors Community where she was well cared for through to her final hours.

She is greatly missed.

A service will be held at Ladysmith First United on Sunday, November 2, at 2 PM.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to First United Church in Ladysmith or Vancouver.

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