Ron & Marion MacQueen - North Shore Honouree

2023 IG Wealth Management Walk for Alzheimer's

“We used to get together at night across the Greenwood bridge, so I proposed on that bridge,” Ron says. “Whenever we go by, we check out the bridge and make sure it’s still in good shape. It still is.”

Ron first spotted Marion singing across from him in the church choir, but he was never quite fast enough to talk with her after practice before she hurried out the door. One night, they crossed paths again at a community dance and their lives have been full of music and dancing together ever since, even following a dementia diagnosis.

“If the music is good and the rhythm is good, we love to dance,” Marion says of showing off their swing dance lessons at weekly live shows. “That has kept us young.”

Ron was referred to the UBC memory clinic three years ago following some challenges he encountered in a routine driving test. He made the decision to stop driving and, following a diagnosis of dementia, chose to participate in research at the UBC clinic to help others affected by the disease. Ron and Marion, who put down their roots in West Vancouver following his time teaching in Greenwood, also connected with the Alzheimer Society of B.C.’s North Shore resource centre for support and education. They’ve attended several workshops and are regulars at Minds in Motion®, the Society’s social and fitness program for people in the early stages of dementia and a care partner.

While there have been challenges for the couple – including Ron’s frustration with missing fishing trips or struggling to find words – they’re choosing to be open about the diagnosis, as it becomes increasingly more common in their neighbourhood and among their peers.

“I don’t think you should hide,” Marion says. “Most people are accepting of dementia and I’m finding a wealth of help if you need it.”

“I don’t mind telling people, and they don’t mind talking with me,” Ron adds. “If a bit of quiet suddenly comes up, then Marion gives me a word or two and away I go again. People seem to be ok with that.”

Marion and Ron, who have three children and three grandchildren, also have a shared love of Dixieland jazz that led them to building a community around the genre in the Lower Mainland. They hosted 24 grassroots festivals over the years and built connections with musicians and music lovers from across North America. When they weren’t hosting events, they would head down south in their camper van to check out other jazz festivals and go birding along the way. In this circle, too, Marion says, folks have been increasingly affected by dementia.

“You have to accept what you’ve got and live with it,” she says. “We had plans to do more travelling, but that’s no longer, so now we have to take a different route and live a good life as long as we can. It helps to have lots of patience and a good sense of humour.”