March 4 1952 – September 18 2024

I am sorry to report the loss of my dear friend Lyn van Lidth de Jeude this past week.

Lyn had a long history with the Vancouver Folk Song Society, in fact, that’s how I first met her. In the summer of 1975, she was secretary and her then husband, Pat Gallaher was treasurer. I had recently rejoined the Folk after a multi-year absence from Vancouver and remember attending board meetings at her house in North Vancouver. At the time she was heavily pregnant with her first child, Emily. The most memorable occasion that summer was a huge VFSS party in Lyn’s back yard. It was the most wonderful singing party I had ever been to up to that point with wall-to-wall people and chorus songs until the wee hours.

After she had Emily, I sort of lost touch with Lyn. A number of years, later Jon and I decided to take a day trip to Bowen Island. We were just walking up the hill from the ferry when a Volkswagen bus drove by with the driver calling our names. It was Lyn. She invited us to her house for lunch where I met her two-year-old son Adrian. Lyn was now married to Everhard van Lidth de Jeude, Adrian’s father, and the two of them were carving out a homestead in the Bowen Island mud. I remember an unfinished double-wide manufactured home parked on five acres of salal, cedar and mud. We had a lovely visit and from then on maintained contact. Lyn came to the Folk Song Circle as often as she could and the family were regulars at the summer retreats at Camp Alexandra. In 1993 they moved to Sorrento on Shuswap Lake and we visited them frequently. Our children grew up together.

When they moved back to Bowen Island in 2007 and particularly after Everhard retired we were able to see them more often, especially at Folk events. Lyn was, of course, a singer and sang to and with her kids as they grew up. It was no surprise, then, that the van Lidth de Jeude family became regular performers at the Princeton Traditional Music Festival between 2008 and 2019. One of their most memorable performances involved a “crankie”, which is a series of pictures on a long roll of paper that is cranked through the crankie one picture at a time. The song being illustrated by the crankie was about the disappearance of draft horses. The song had particular meaning for Lyn’s family as Everhard had done selective logging with a beautiful palomino Belgian. The illustrations were skillfully done by Lyn’s grandson Taliesin, who was also part of the performance.

Lyn came to singing through her family, in particular her older sister Mimi who sang to her when she was a child. Her repertoire contained many traditional ballads and Lyn was a regular on the panel of balladeers at the Princeton Traditional Music Festival. Lyn had a lovely mezzo soprano voice and her singing style brought out the story contained in each song. When she studied music therapy, each student had to choose their primary instrument. It is no surprise that Lyn’s instrument of choice was her voice.

Lyn was very thoughtful about singing and I remember many long discussions about the ethics or effectiveness of certain songs, about the protocols of singing in groups or about the role of singing in the larger society. We spent many hours dissecting singing experiences we had shared and her respect for and her humility towards the work of a singer were always impressive. Lyn’s humility sometimes crossfaded into an underrating of her own singing. Talking deeply about singing with other singers is often problematic. Words can be misinterpreted or perceived as personal criticism. Lyn is one of the few people we could talk to freely about singing and come out of the conversation enriched.

I will miss Lyn’s boundless hospitality; I will miss her kindness and attention to others and I will miss her singing presence within our extended musical family.

Rika Ruebsaat

From the Family

Many people are asking what they can do. We cannot receive phone calls or visits right now. Truly the best thing anybody can do now is to hold her memory in your heart as we do, and know we are comforted in the love of people far and wide, who remember her. We’ve uploaded a video of Lyn performing some of her favourite music, for you to listen to, if you want to hear her voice.

About a week before Lyn died, she dictated the following message, which she asked us to pass on to her loved ones after her death~

My time is finished, now. I would like you to know how much you mean to me. I have appreciated the connections and love we’ve shared. I hope you will continue to find beauty in the world.