Angela James Ives was born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on May 21 1954 to Mona and Peter James. She was the eldest of six children. Through her work at the Canadian Embassy in Pakistan, she was able to move to Canada in 1973 at only 20 years of age. She found herself in Fort St. John, BC by herself, with only the little money she had saved and given to her by her family. With no prospects in Fort St. John and her money fast dwindling, she asked the ticket booth at the local airport for a one-way ticket to a “big city.” That big city was Vancouver, BC. In the years that followed, she worked a number of odd jobs, as a receptionist, a telephone operator (holding many jobs at the same time to make ends meet), including a stint in the Canadian Armed Forces. She would meet her future husband, Bob Ives, in 1974 or 1975. Angela and Bob would marry in 1983 and move into a single story home in the Kitsilano neighborhood. They would welcome their only child, Cory, in Nov 1985. For the remainder of her working years, Angela worked as an office manager for the family business, the Official Court Reporters.
Angela passed away on May 5 2021 of lung cancer. She is survived by her son and her husband.
I, Cory Ives, created this site for my mother as a way to honour her memory and to create a place to reflect on her life. We want to build monuments to the the loved ones we lose as a testament to the world that they not only existed, but that they were loved and are deserving to be remembered. This site will include pictures of my mother’s life through the years, and a selection of her artwork.
My mother had a number of passions in life, but the four that stood out to me was her art, animal welfare, food and the Vancouver Canucks. To know my mother was to know of her tireless campaigning for the better treatment of animals, especially dogs. She was a huge believer in animal welfare charities, including the BC SPCA. She would reach out to small youtubers who were active in their local communities in improving animal welfare to give words of support and money if they needed it.
Some of my fondest memories of her are of us either lamenting or cheering on the Canucks. We would regularly watch games together, cheering or crying depending on the swing of the game. I can still hear her decry the lack of heart, or spirit in the team, or her chiding me to not give up and have faith when the team was down by a goal or three. She would randomly text me at night post-game with her critique or praise of the team.
My mother enjoyed quiet mornings with coffee and toast. She never let go of her love of disco, and would often remind me that the 80s was the best era for music. I remember nights of excitement and entertainment as a young boy watching my mom and uncles and aunts watch Bollywood movies on VHS and sing along. Although I swear she could cook anything, her favorite food was rice and dahl. She preferred disaster movies above all else (the more destruction the better), yet disliked movies that portrayed too much violence. She introduced me to my first video game, Super Mario on the NES, and we would take turns playing. She later helped me use MSDOS so I could play my first computer game. Thai food had a special place in her heart, and she was addicted to Mocha Frappuccinos from Starbucks (the staff knew her by name, and her order by heart: grande white chocolate mocha in a venti cup extra whip extra hot; “the Angie"). She enjoyed travelling, but disliked camping. Her last favorite trip was to Alaska. She generally disliked drinking alcohol, but enjoyed having a puff of marijuana while she was with company or if she wanted to watch music videos on her Ipad. Her favourite colour was blue and her favourite dog was her own, Trigger.