By Neil Corbett
Mission Record
Former Mission council member and longtime community volunteer Perry Cleven passed away on Monday evening.
Cleven served as an alderwoman from 1974 to 1986, and was always atop the polls. She ran for mayor, and lost by a narrow margin.
Cleven moved to Ruskin with her husband Andy, a BC Hydro superintendent, in 1962. She was well known as the president of the Mission Loggers Sports Association through the 1970s, and was also a pathfinder, a member of the hospital auxiliary and the Legion, president of the arts council, and served in many other volunteer roles.
For her service to Mission, she was awarded Woman of the Year and Freeman of the City honours.
“She was involved in everthing – she loved Mission,” said her son Andy. “A lot of the things that you have in Mission were built by people like mom.”
The Maple Ridge resident is one of her three children. His brother Mike lives in Nova Scotia, and sister Margit in Pitt Meadows.
Andy said his mother suffered a sudden stroke. She was 89.
She attended the ceremonies to honour Mission volunteers earlier this month, and Abbotsford-Mission MLA Randy Hawes noted that even at an advanced age, Cleven did not miss many events.
“She was a community activist who worked for the community for decades and decades,” said Hawes. “It’s a profound loss to Mission.”
A service will be held on Monday at 1 p.m. at St. Andrew’s United Church on Grand Street. The family requests donations in her memory be made to the Mission Health Care Auxiliary.