Shirley Harding, Aboriginal Ministries Consultant for the Diocese of New Westminster from 1997 to 1999, died July 30. A long-time parishioner of Christ Church Cathedral, she had also worked for the national Anglican Church of Canada.
A native of Paris, Ontario, Harding graduated as a registered nurse from Victoria Hospital School of Nursing in London, Ontario. She came to Vancouver in the 1950s.
After work in her parish and studying theology and youth ministry at Duke University in North Carolina, she worked in Toronto as National Youth Coordinator before returning to Vancouver.
She had been fighting cancer since 1992 with conventional Western medicine combined with alternative therapies.
She leaves her husband Russ and three sons: Mike, Scott, and Brian. A memorial service took place on August 7 at Christ Church Cathedral, Vancouver, with the Rev. Linda St. Clair officiating, followed by internment of ashes in the Cathedral's memorial garden.