The McLoughlin Gardens has lost our original gardener, Sarah McLoughlin. Sarah died on February 10 at Mt. St. Joseph’s Hospital in Vancouver. With her husband Brian who died in 2014, Sarah leaves an extraordinary legacy - a garden and park for the whole community to enjoy.
Wearing a straw hat and gardening gloves, Sarah McLoughlin’s habit was to step out every morning after breakfast, to walk around her garden and see what needed attention. In the days of the nut orchard, she would load up the old station wagon with tools and drive up the hill to begin weeding, mulching, or pruning the filbert trees, systematically working down the slope of the orchard, row by row. If the sun was too hot, she would move to the shade, tidying up the borders along the side of the winding grassy road, staking the flowering currants, considering where she might plant an interesting tree.
Sarah’s sense of design is evident throughout the McLoughlin Park, from the gate to the seashore, from the house to the gardens that surround it.
If you would like to make a donation in memory of Sarah, please visit our donation page here. Or go directly to The McLoughlin Gardens Fund at Vancity Community Foundation.