Niki Nations was born on April 21, 1932 at home in Arrey, New Mexico and she died at home at Arbutus Ridge, Cobble Hill, B.C. surrounded by her family after a battle with esophageal cancer. Niki spent most of her childhood growing up in Las Cruces and because her father was in the U.S. Armed Forces, she, her mother Lucille, and her two sisters Mary-Lee and Kay lived on many different Army bases including Sendai, Japan, where Niki graduated from high school in 1950. She obtained her RN and Bachelor of Science in nursing from the University of Maryland in 1955, winning the most outstanding student nurse award.
In 1956 she married Dr. Bill Buchan after a short courtship while they were both working at the Canadian RCAF hospital in Zweibrucken, Germany, where Niki’s father was the Commander of the U.S. Army base. After two years, including some time in South Shields, England, Niki and Bill and their new baby Keith, took the Queen Mary across the Atlantic, picked up their VW Bug, and drove 5,000 miles to take up their new life in Whitehorse, Yukon where they had two more children, Brent and Lesley. The family moved to Sydney, Australia for a one-year surgical internship for Bill in 1965-66 and during that time Niki worked as a part-time fashion model. On return to Yukon, Niki was a busy volunteer in her community with her proudest accomplishment being the Building Chairman for the construction of the YWCA residence / recreation complex in Whitehorse in 1971. She was also a founding member and President of the Whitehorse Toastmistress Club from 1966-69.
Niki returned to university in 1973 when the family relocated to Vancouver and she graduated from UBC Law School in 1977. Her seventeen-year legal career led to a partnership at Shier & Buchan. In 1994, Bill and Niki moved to Arbutus Ridge in Cobble Hill on Vancouver Island where she remained active carrying-out some legal work in Victoria and serving on the Strata Council. Niki loved to travel and she was an accomplished seamstress and cook and she particularly loved hosting dinner parties for family and friends when the good china and silver would come out.
Niki will be much missed by her husband of 59 years, Bill, her sister Kay, her three children, Keith (Sharon), Brent (Nancy), and Lesley (Jonathan) and grandchildren, Craig, Michael, Trevor, Will, Ella, and Joe.
No service by Niki’s request. Condolences may be offered online at www.sandsduncan.ca