Born: 20th October 1949, Helston, in the county of Cornwall, England.
Died: 19th July 2026, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Jenny was the second child of Ralph and Marion Cutler.
Sister Tereasa preceded her by eighteen months, and three younger brothers followed her into this world.
Life was pretty impoverished in post-world war 2 Britain, and the family lived in one of the poorest parts of the country.
However, the family got by with what little they had, and children do not compare.
Jenny’s father, Ralph, a returned sailor from war service, got electrical work where he could, and kept the family going.
Unfortunately, the family curse, nephritis, a kidney disease, took his life in 1958, when Jenny was eight years old. What modest means the family previously had, was further diminished.
West country England could be an idyllic countrified place as a child, living amongst the farming community, walking distance from cliffs, beaches and coves. Images of pirates of old, derelict tin mines and fresh clean Atlantic sea air fueled a child’s imagination.
But it was not a place to find employment for five children
Four years later, the remaining family moved to the county of Kent.
Jenny finished her schooling an embarked on a career path.
With an interest in working with infant children. She learned the profession of a nanny, and while still a teenager, became an Au Pair.
Jenny was 21, in London, working as an Au pair, to the children of an acting Family. Friends of that family were moving to Toronto, and offered for Jenny to relocate with them.
She agreed. Her life had taken a new turn; she was at home in Canada.
She was joined in Toronto, a couple of years later, by her brother Mel, and his wife, who had also emigrated. Life was ok.
Jenny became fast friends with Beth, during this time. Traveling together through France, Spain and Italy was a highlight, and ignited her taste for travel.
Jenny would travel extensively over the years: USA, the Caribbean, Mexico, Iceland, Australia and New Zealand, amongst others.
In 1976, when Jenny was 26 her mother suddenly died of a stroke in England. Traveling back to be with the family, this would be the last time all the siblings were together.
A few years later, in the early 1980’s, Jenny’s friend Beth would move out west. Jenny took the opportunity to move also. First Banff, then Vancouver, Jenny trained in medical administration, specializing in the cancer unit.
Another twist came in the early nineties, when Jenny’s half-brother was discovered, who had been adopted during World War 2, his mother died at childbirth, and his father was away on Royal Naval service. Jenny and her new half-brother were together on a number of occasions over the years.
It was at this stage that the family curse, kidney disease, came calling.
Her Father and Auntie had been taken early, before the availability of medical interventions, and her first cousin suffered at this time and had a kidney transplant.
After years of blood transfusions, Jenny received a new Kidney on 27th February 1992. Life expectancy at that time, with a new kidney, was 10 to 15 years. This miracle donation enabled was to give her, amazingly, a further 34 years of life, mostly to the full.
A decade later, in her fifties, her last relocation and final home became Victoria, Vancouver Island.
She was able to indulge in her other important lifestyle, outdoor sports, and her love of gardening.
As well as being an active hiker, she was a cyclist, enjoyed sailing, canoeing, and dragon boat racing. She was an active member of the Victoria Canoe and cycling club, and this fellowship provided an important pillar to her life, during her later years.
She maintained a connection with her early years by being involved with the Cornish Society of BC, and those of the Cornish diaspora.
Jenny died at the age of 76 years, of complications due to cancer.
Jenny never married, and never had children.
She is survived by her four siblings, and their families.
Jenny has requested that her ashes be scattered at a local beach that she frequented and loved.
Her ashes will, without doubt, find their way back to the place of her childhood, those idyllic cliffs, beaches and coves of West country England.
“There is no foot too small, that it cannot leave an imprint on this world”.
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