Nielsen, Valerie Margret (nee Wilkinson)

With heavy hearts we announce the passing of Valerie on January 11, 2025, age 86.

She was the beloved wife of Robert, with whom she lived at Albright Gardens, Beamsville & previously on the shore of Lake Ontario in Stoney Creek.

Tremendous grief is also felt by her daughters Mary & Julia, 1st husband Rev. John Griffin & brother David Wilkinson.

Valerie was also blessed to be mother to the late Paul, grandmother, great grandmother, sister-in law, aunt & cousin.

She was born in Kent, England, daughter to writers Charles & Marjorie Wilkinson.

After WW2 (during which her father served in the RAF), she emigrated to Canada, age 13, with her parents & brother.

In Hamilton, she attended Westdale Secondary School & then Teachers’ College.

In mid-life she earned a BA from the Univ. of Toronto & then a Masters Degree in Religious Education.

Professionally, Val wrote for the Hamilton Spectator, taught elementary school, was a youth counsellor & United Church staff associate.

She led retreats & workshops on creativity, spirituality, writing, leadership training, clowning ministry & was a member of the; Tower Poetry Society, WomEnchant Chorus/Drummers & United & Unitarian churches.

Valerie also volunteered for hospice, distress centers, the Y.M.-Y.M.C.A & for many churches.

She lead a life fulfilled with the love of family, friends, faith & word travel.

Val enjoyed art in all forms, especially photographing nature & the beauty she saw all around her.

She left behind an expansive legacy of honesty, adventure & kindness, through her journals, published works of fiction & non-fiction & newspaper articles.

As expressions of sympathy, donations would be appreciated to; McMaster University Anatomy Dept. (to whom she gifted her own body to science), the Alzheimer’s Society & the Heart & Stroke Foundation.

A posthumous collection of her latest poetry is to follow, as will an outdoor celebration of her wild & precious life, to take place in 2025.