Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/740502
DONOR PROFILE p a g e 6 I V a n c o u v e r F o u n d a t i o n l F a l l 2 0 1 6 Photo: Claudette Caracedo Ann Dyke is the fourth generation in a long line of adven- turous—and often seafaring—Lower Mainland women. Her great-grandmother Rosalia Pittendrigh, for example, arrived in New Westminster in 1874 after sailing around Cape Horn with her husband, British military officer Captain George Pittendrigh, and family. One of the good Captain's many claims to fame is an incident during the Crimean War in which his bathwater leaked into the apartment of the English founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale. "e good lady was not amused," says Dyke, "though they later became the best of friends." Dyke, 83, has a trove of stories about her ancestors, and has created three successive funds at Vancouver Foundation in their memory. e most recent fund, launched this year, is in honour of Rosalia and Capt. George Pittendrigh. Prior to that she set up respective funds in honour of her parents, Lance and Nonie Bissett, and her maternal grandparents, Capt. Frank and Constance Yorke. "Each of these three generations did much to build and contribute to our community and the Lower Mainland over these 140 years," says Dyke. "I think this is the way they would have wished to be remembered." Dyke has decided to allow Vancouver Foundation's commu- nity-based advisory committees to choose how to distribute the grants. "I was inspired by the story of Alice MacKay," says Dyke. "Almost 75 years ago she donated her $1,000 in savings to a newly established Vancouver Foundation to help women in pov- erty." Dyke plans to mark either Canada's 150th anniversary in 2017, or the 75th anniversary of the Vancouver Foundation in 2018, with a fourth fund named for her husband and herself. Her husband Lorne was part of Ottawa's Trade Commissioner Service, and together they bounced around embassies, high commissions and consulates all over the world—from Greece Lives of Adventure Ann Dyke has established three funds at Vancouver Foundation to honour the contributions of her industrious ancestors By Tyee Bridge