June 18, 1927 - July 6, 2025
BETTY TWIGG died peacefully on July 6, 2025. Born in Powell River in 1927 as Olive Betty Alice Thomson, she was a longtime West Vancouverite and a loving mother of two sons, John and Alan. She died at age 98 after more than a dozen years of being remarkably well looked after at the Inglewood Care Centre.
Betty was well-liked and admired as an exceptionally capable school secretary in the West Van school system. As a literacy advocate, she was a five-year honoree (2020-2025) for the Vancouver Public Library's Mother Goose reading program to help vulnerable parents and young children encourage early literacy and strengthen family ties.
Betty grew up in Kitsilano and should have gone to university. She courageously left her marriage to Arthur Maitland Twigg when both her sons were independent teenagers. She lived in West Van apartment blocks on Duchess and Esquimalt and became supportive of the provincial NDP after her son John became Premier Dave Barrett’ s press secretary. She later made trips to visit England, Australia, Cuba, Hawaii, France, Alaska and Turkey. She had six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, as well as numerous good friends.
Betty was someone who gave more than she received. She sang well, always remembering the lyrics. In retrospect, her rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow in the Inglewood Care Centre, where she struggled with dementia, was haunting. She is predeceased by her eldest son John, who died earlier this year.
Donations in her name can be made to the BC Civil Liberties Association.
