Celebrating Penny Latham
On Friday night of Thanksgiving weekend 2024, we received the devastating phone call from the doctor with news that our older sister Penny had inoperable, incurable lung cancer.
On July 1, 2025 – Canada Day, Penny called to say she was in severe breathing distress. The Palliative Care Response Team arrived immediately to meet us at her home. Her condition had worsened dramatically, and she chose to enter Victoria Hospice. As we drove her there, we were in disbelief that her time had come so quickly. Yet we also felt a deep sense of relief that professionals who truly understood end-of-life care were now by her side administering medical comfort. After just nine months from diagnosis, on July 3, 2025, Penny’s family walked alongside her through the final chapter of her life.
When we stepped off the elevator onto the Hospice floor, we exhaled for the first time in days. The team welcomed us with open arms and compassion. In that moment, we were no longer responsible for managing her medical needs—we could simply be her family again.
That day and the next, the Hospice team kept Penny comfortable. She was able to receive visits from over twenty friends and colleagues who came to say their last goodbyes. Surrounded by love and family, she passed peacefully on July 3, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. exactly as she wished, having planned for medical assistance in dying.
Penny left this earth as a mom, a grandma, a sister and a friend to many. She was larger than life. She loved to dance, and had a genuine interest and love of people – she lived every day to the fullest.
She was so brave. She faced radiation and chemotherapy treatments with courage and determination. If the sheer will to live could have beat it, she would have prevailed.
What carried us through was the extraordinary care and humanity of the Victoria Hospice team. They didn’t just treat Penny’s illness—they honored her as a person. They gave us space to share memories, laughter, and quiet moments together. Those final hours, filled with grace and dignity, were a profound gift.
When her journey ended, the hospice staff did something we will never forget. They gathered around her with us in a simple, beautiful ritual—acknowledging Penny’s life, her dignity, and the love that surrounded her. They thanked her for the privilege of caring for her. That gesture brought us enormous comfort, closure, and peace.
This gift of care—of presence, of compassion—is priceless. Every donation ensures that when another family faces what we faced, they too will find the same comfort and compassion.
On behalf of our family, and in memory of our sister Penny, thank you to Victoria Hospice staff and volunteers for helping keep that promise alive.
From Penny’s sisters, Patti and Shannon