meet ouR directors
LOIS BRUMMET, PRESIDENT
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Lois Brummet, MSN, RN, CHPCN(c) has been affiliated with the Desert Valley Hospice Society for several years. She is a former area representative to the BC Hospice Palliative Care Association; she went on to become President. Her Canadian Nurses Association certification is in Hospice Palliative Care Nursing. Lois has practiced in a variety of settings from acute care, home/community and long-term care. For her work in AIDS Palliative Care, Lois received the Queen’s Jubilee Medal in 2002 from the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association.
Lois is a member of the DVHS's Grief Support Team. She sits vigils and visits at Mariposa Gardens in Osoyoos. Lois is married to Tony Brummet. Besides an interest in community service, travelling and golf, they share six adult children, 15 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. |
bev alexander, vice president
Bev Alexander is a retired Licensed Practical Nurse from Fort St. John and settled in Oliver in 2006. Bev was on the newly formed Fort St. John Hospice board in 1997. Her experience includes co-producing the volunteer training manual and co-facilitating the training program. Bev is also DVHS hospice volunteer and caregiver. Bev has attended BCHPCA conferences, grief workshops, the national Alzheimer’s conference and served as a group support leader.
Education, instruction, special events and fundraising are Bev’s areas of interest. She is also an artist and teaches art. She has paintings hanging in seven places in the South Okanagan. |
fiona wood, treasurer
Fiona Wood has lived in Oliver for 26 years and has five children and five grandchildren. Her husband of 37 years passed away in 2017. She has had a varied career spanning office administration, education assistant, teacher and medical office receptionist at various levels in provincial and federal governments, school districts, as well as having been a business owner, school board trustee and served on the boards of two churches.
Fiona is also an active volunteer with Oliver Kiwanis Club and Red Cross Medical Loan Program and has trained as a hospice volunteer with Desert Valley Hospice Society. In 2019 Fiona received the Spirit of Oliver Individual Award. |
margaret ingebrigtson, secretary
Margaret Ingebrigtson came to Oliver from Churchill, MB in 2004. A retired school teacher, Margaret exchanged for the Polar Bear Capital of the World for the Wine Capital of Canada. It did not take long for Margaret’s abilities and gifts to be recognized. She has been a faithful visitor to numerous seniors, held hands with both young and old, who might otherwise be alone at their deaths.
Margaret represents DVHS at the Palliative Care Rounds at SOGH every Tuesday. She sits vigil and fills in to assign requests to volunteers. Margaret plays piano for the folks at both Sunnybank Centre and McKinney Place. She finds being a hospice volunteer rewarding and encourages herself to do more when she can. |
NOLAN C. ADAM, FINANCE CHAIR
Nolan Adam has almost 20 years’ experience in the funeral business, starting as a young man, working in the funeral home owned by his father. Nolan is the Funeral Director at the Providence Funeral Homes & Crematoriums in Penticton and Summerland. Nolan is very active and engaged in the three communities. He serves or has served on many boards including Kinsmen, Kiwanis, Rotary, Lions, Eagles, Knights of Columbus, Green Burial Council of Canada, 100 Men Who Care and Community Foundation of South Okanagan and Similkameen.
Nolan is married to Abigail and they reside in Penticton with their two young children, Emma and Noah. |
PETE NAZAROFF, phase II chair
Pete Nazaroff lives in Oliver and is the President of Vulcan Consulting Inc. He is a Licenced Security Consultant. Pete also has a long RCMP background. Pete has served on a large number of organisations and committees nationally, provincially and municipally. Simply said, Pete served on multiple other board appointments with various committees throughout a 35-year career with the RCMP. He is an active Board Member for the Canyon Desert Home Owners’ Association.
Pete took his hospice volunteer training in 2014 in Delta, BC. With a genuine interest in participating and being a proactive team member of the Board, Pete has multiple skills and experience to bring to the chairperson position for Phase II . |
JANET R. ARMSTRONG, DIRECTOR
Janet (Jan) Armstrong is a new resident to Oliver from Grand Forks where she was the owner/operator of a residential and commercial building. Prior to being a Property Manager, Jan was a Mortgage Loan Officer at a credit union in Grand Forks. Since moving to Oliver, she also became a member of the Lions Club of Oliver. Jan was recently reappointed for another two-year term to Community Voice, Interior Health’s Research & Ethics Board.
Jan completed the fall 2018 Hospice Volunteer Training and the Palliative Massage Training with Desert Valley Hospice Society. Jan is a member of DVHS's Palliative Massage Team. She sits vigils and visits on Acute Care at SOGH and provides one-to-one support in people's homes. |
WILLIAM ASHDOWN, director
William (Bill) Ashdown has been a resident of Osoyoos since 1996. He was the owner/operator of two businesses in Osoyoos and Oliver for eight years.
Bill has been a very active member of the Osoyoos Community. Before joining the DVHS Board, Bill has volunteered and been a member of numerous organizations in a variety of capacities and roles in Osoyoos: Big Brothers, Heritage Museum, Festival Society, Kiwanis Club, Osoyoos Chamber of Commerce, Elementary School Breakfast Program, Autoimmune Support Group, and the Arthritis Society. He was instrumental in organizing the Arthritis Society's first health fair. For many years he wrote a weekly column for the Okanagan Sun Weekly. Bill is enrolled to take the Hospice Volunteer Training. |
LILIANA DE NARDA, director
Liliana De Narda lives in Osoyoos and has been a hospice volunteer since 2012. She is the Team Lead for the Acute Care and Telephone Bereavement programs. Liliana is on the Volunteer Programs Committee, one-to-one grief support program and is a trained Nav-CARE volunteer. She has been involved with in home respite and visiting clients in long term care facilities.
Liliana has a BA in Administration, Advanced Italian, Reflexology, Spiritual Director, and Non-violent Communications. She has attended BCHPCA conferences as well as many workshops offered to expand her knowledge and expertise. She has a strong focus on self-development and self-awareness. Education, outreach, advocacy, public relations and fundraising are her areas of interest. |
DAYLE DRURY, director
Dayle Drury is a social worker and the Integrated Care Coordinator out of SOGH. Dayle’s work centers primarily on working with elderly individuals who have chronic, complex care needs. With client/patient approval she works with physicians to help solve these complex problems. Dayle is a board member of the Oliver and Area Affordable Housing Society. Moreover, she is the community representative to our Nav-CARE program.
Living as a farm wife for many years in Saskatchewan has taught Dayle the importance of depending on each other for more harmonious living. Her 93-year-old mother inspires her by still striving to improve community living in whatever way possible. DONNA KELSO, DIRECTOR
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DON HARGRAVE, director
Don Hargrave is a long-time resident of Oliver and retired in 2007 from Interior Health as the Manager of the Laboratory at SOGH.
Don has always been involved in the community serving on the boards of Oliver Kinsmen, Oliver United Church, South OK Sportsmen’s Assoc., Oliver Fire Dept., and he is currently Chairperson/Director at the Valley Congregational Christian Church. Don has been an active DVHS Hospice Volunteer for four years. He has a strong desire to improve the lives of others in all walks of life. Donna Kelso moved to Oliver in 2001 and then to Osoyoos in 2005. She is the mother of two grown daughters and grandmother of three. Donna became a Hospice volunteer in 2015 and is serving her fourth year on the Board. She is a member of the Kiwanis Club of Osoyoos, Kiwanis Club of Cascadia and Beta Sigma Phi Sorority and volunteers with Frank Venables Theatre. Donna was named the 2018 Volunteer of the Year by the Town of Osoyoos. |
"I was looking for a way to serve in the community and felt Desert Valley Hospice Society provided a much needed and important support for people nearing the end of their ‘life’s journey’. After becoming active with the Society, I became more involved in the administrative aspects, which lead to involvement with the Board; although I still do some volunteering with individuals. I am now more convinced than ever of the importance of the services provided by the Desert Valley Hospice Society for members of our communities."