Obituary of Dr. Lourdes Teresa Marie Heber

Watch recorded video of Funeral Service here: https://www.ustream.tv/embed/recorded/118433275?html5ui

Dr. Lourdes Heber, beloved wife of Dr. Wes Heber, and mother of Jacqueline and Walter, passed away Tuesday, November 20, 2018 at Royal University Hospital. There will be a Mass of Christian Burial, Friday, November 23, 2018 at 10 am from St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Co-Cathedral.   Lou was raised in Cebu City, Philippines and survived the second World War with her family by relocating to a small Island in the Central Visayan region where she was tutored by her father, an elementary teacher, along with her younger siblings, and was therefore able to enter Cebu Normal School after the war, completing grades three and four within in six months. She attended the Colegio de Immaculada Conception. There she received good grades and made the honour student roll in her fourth year. She completed her nursing programme at Velez College. While studying she was selected as an assistant physical education instructor and taught second year students in folk dance and military drill. Upon completion of high school she enrolled in the Red Cross training program and was hired by the Philippine Red Cross to teach a class in Manila on Home Nursing. She was subsequently hired as the provincial Red Cross representative for the Province of Davao where she stayed for two and a half years teaching Home Nursing and Home Care of the sick while carrying out disaster relief work throughout the Province. She was acknowledged for her work in disaster relief by the Director of the Philippine Red Cross and by the Mayor of Panobao town. 
While on call at the town of Padada in southern Davao province, Lou was introduced to the president of the Philippines, President Magsaysay. Seeing a tiny young woman in uniform he at first thought she was a member of the Girl Guides, and was surprised that she was indeed the representative for the Philippine Red Cross for the province of Davao with such great responsibility. After serving in the Red Cross for two and a half years in Davao, and taking a course in First Aid Instructor and Blood Bank Nursing Lou was invited to return to her alma matter to teach a course in first aid to second year nursing students. She also acted as the student nursing advisor. After one year she left to join the Zambales Red Cross where she travelled throughout the Province to organize first aid training for public school teachers and organized the provincial blood bank, recruiting volunteers in and around Olongapo City. There she became known as 'the walking blood bank'. It was during this time that she decided to apply for the Nurse Exchange Program to the United States and was successful in acquiring a position at the Research Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. After a few months she got a job as a staff nurse at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galviston where she was involved in many community activities. Two years later she was again seeking a change of life and was on the move to Boston were she entered novitiate training at the St. Columban's convent to train for overseas missionary service. However, after nine months she decided not to pursue a contemplative life with all its restrictive rules and regulations and left the convent as a novice to seek more secular challenges. She applied for a nursing position at the General Hospital in Edmonton, Canada. It was there that she met her husband to be, Wesley Heber, who was at the time a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force. After a brief courtship they were married in 1964 and while in Edmonton had two children, Jacqueline Marie and Walter Wesley. Her husband was transferred to the naval air arm at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and Lou secured a position teaching psychiatric nursing at the Nova Scotia Hospital in Dartmough. She then decided to combine teaching with education and while working she completed a degree in education at Mount St. Vincent University and a Master's in Education degree at Dalhousie University. Wes was inspired by Lou and entered university, completing his doctorate at the University of Manitoba and got a position teaching Indigenous Studies at the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. At that time Lou was hired to teach nursing at the College of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan. In the interm she had completed a Ph.D. by distance education at the California Coast University, and a second Ph.D. at Somerset University in England. Lou and Wes spent twenty rewarding years in academia, both retiring as full professors, and have enjoyed a quiet life in Saskatoon with their dog Teddy.  The family would like to extend a special thank you to the Medical Team at Royal University Hospital, including Dr. Lubiantoro and the nursing staff for their professionalism and care.