Remembering Anne Ginns, longtime SONC member

The South Okanagan Naturalists’ Club have lost one of their longtime members. Anne Ginns died in January of this year. Anne and her husband, Jim, took part in club meetings for many years but in the last year or so found it difficult to attend.  Anne was an excellent baker and was a regular contributor to the coffee break cookie table. At Club picnics she would often provide a fruit pie that was enjoyed by those lucky enough to get a piece.

Anne and Jim both grew up in Connecticut, meeting at the University of Connecticut where she studied horticulture and he forestry and plant pathology. After marrying and working in New York, they moved to Victoria BC in 1967, when Jim was recruited by the Canadian Forestry Service. Anne worked there as a lab technician.

They had just purchased land in Victoria, when Jim was offered a position as a research scientist with Agriculture Canada in Ottawa. They settled in nearby Cantley, Quebec, spending the next 30 years on a historic farm, where Anne raised bees and grew vegetables and raspberries. She also designed theme gardens for the new Museum of Civilization in Hull QC.

When it came time to retire in 1997, the Ginns’s moved to Penticton, where they soon joined the South Okanagan Naturalists’ Club. Anne was also on the executive of the Penticton and District Garden Club and published its newsletter. In 2002 Anne edited “Gardening in the “Dry Interior of British Columbia” a book where each chapter was written by a different author. Summerland Ornamental Gardens was a natural interest for both of them. Anne served on the FOG board for six years in the 2000s. She was also an active garden volunteer and donated many bedding and houseplants to garden sales over the years.

Anne and Jim have made two lasting contributions of land to the conservation of Canada’s natural environment.  In 2018, they gifted a 103-acre property in Cantley, Quebec (near Gatineau), to protect this ecologically sensitive land in perpetuity. https://cantley.ca/urbanisme-environnement-et-developpement-economique/environnement/parc-ecologique-ginns/ In 2021 Anne and Jim donated a ecologically diverse 23-acre parcel of land bordering Thetis Lake Regional Park (near Victoria), which is now officially protected by the Habitat Acquisition Trust. https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/couple-donates-forest-land-in-highlands-to-habitat-acquisition-trust-4687707

Anne will be missed by Jim, and many friends.

Submitted by Doreen Olson with acknowledgement to the Friends of the Garden, Summerland

March 6, 2024