Constance Gertrude Parker (Connie)

October 16, 2022
Connie was born in 1939 in Halifax Nova Scotia while living in Bedford to parents Gertrude May and Richard Thomas Henry Hewlett Parker. The only girl and 8th child. Connie was the sister to Dick, Gord, Art, Fred, Bill, Bob and Harold and was the last living member of her immediate family. Connie joined the Royal Canadian Airforce in 1958 where she met Jim Backlund who she married in Duncan BC at St. John's Anglican Church in August of 1959. Jim and Connie lived 11 years in Port Renfrew and 9 years in Lake Cowichan before they headed off on new adventures to live 5 years in Abbotsford and then 3 years in Roberts Creek on the Sunshine Coast. They then moved back to the island, living in Cowichan Bay and Nanaimo before Connie moved to her favourite little apartment in Duncan. Connie was a lifetime member of the Valley Seniors Organization where she spent many hours playing cards and carpet bowling with tons of friends that came and went. She loved it there.
Connie was part of a team who took gold in the BC 55+ Games in carpet bowling in 2013. This qualified the team to go the Nationals in Strathcona County Alberta in 2014 where they took the Silver medal. Connie also was part of another team that took silver in the Nationals in Brampton Ontario in 2016. During one of the BC 55+ Games, Connie's team, skipped by her best friend George Capella, got an "8 ender" where all eight balls counted in the house...A very rare occurrence. When not participating in carpet bowling in the BC 55+ Games, Connie participated in Cribbage and also volunteered to be a zone 1 chairperson for Whist. Connie was our athlete and we were very proud of her!
Connie had a strong faith in God and was predeceased by her ex husband, Jim Backlund, and her son James (Jimmy) Douglas Backlund and is survived by her daughter Linda (Pat) Blatchford, Janice (Steve) Frueh, Nancy (Doug) Walker, Don (Lucy) Backlund, Ian(Kris) Backlund and 16 grandchildren (Lee, Jesse, Mike, Jen, Kevin, David, Amy, Patti, Jimmy, Richard, Scott, Danielle, Joshua, Samantha, Lucas and Lindsay) and 28 great grandchildren (Tallan, Elisa, Lucas, Logan, Lincoln ,Berkley, Jayde, Keenan, Kohen, Brady, Cohen, Eddie, Bennett, Douglas, Liam, Maddison, Miles, Presley, Audrey, Elise, Kiki, Finnian, Freya, Elias, Maverick, Lorelei, Piper and Easton) and numerous dear friends.
Connie's energy, spark, kind heart, opinions and beliefs will be missed by many.
A Memorial Service will be held on Friday, October 28, 2022 at 1:00 pm at First Memorial Funeral Chapel, 375 Brae Road, Duncan, BC V9L 3T9.