DICKIE (Boiduk), Helen

It is with great sadness that we recognize the peaceful passing of our mother, Helen (Boiduk) Dickie, on February 14, 2024. Mom was born in New Glasgow on July 22, 1932, the daughter of Ukrainian immigrants, Alfonso and Anna Boiduk, and moved to Halifax as a young woman to study nursing. She was a graduate of the Victoria General School of Nursing, graduating at the top of her class, and though she left the profession to become a full-time homemaker, she remained in close contact with her classmates throughout the rest of her life. She devoted herself to raising four children, but still managed to find the time to support causes she believed in. She was an environmentalist long before it became fashionable, conducting shopper’s surveys on the use of green products in the 1970s, raising awareness of pollutants in the environment and in our homes, and ensuring that her own household left as small a footprint as possible. Throughout her life, she advocated for the ethical treatment of animals and the protection of both wildlife and wild spaces. To this end, she supported Hope for Wildlife, Nova Scotia Nature Trust and the SPCA. She was a supporter of the rescued Greyhound program and a member of the Nova Scotia Bird Society. Mom was also a voracious reader who had a special love for thrillers, often finishing a book within a single day of starting it. She loved cooking, sewing, and crocheting and although she dearly missed our father (her partner of 56 years), she prided herself on being able to live independently right up until the very end of her life. She was predeceased by her parents; brothers, Walter and Max; and by her husband, Robert. She is survived by sons, Christopher (Catya), John, Stewart (Jill) and daughter, Anne (Charles); as well as nine grandchildren, (Charles, Hannah, Ciana, Helen, Anna, Lauren, Austin, Robert and Catherine); six nieces and nephews; and her sister-in-law, Marlene. In accordance with her wishes, there will be no visitation or funeral service. Mom believed that “To Every Thing there is a Season” and she lived her season fully and on her own terms. We will miss her.