A LONGTIME resident who advocated for proper care for those in extended care and other facilities has passed away.
Dawna Marie Ottenbreit died on Oct. 21 after a long battle with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a lung disease that makes it increasingly difficult to breathe.
Ottenbreit advocated for patients and families of patients at Terraceview Lodge for more nurses and better care, according to friend Anna Bernard.
“I was a dear friend of Dawna's. We're devastated,” said Bernard this morning.
“We just have to thank her...she stuck her neck out so much. She fought for my mom and those workers. We are going to miss her.”
Ottenbreit was a modest person and didn't want to be thanked, said Bernard.
“She was amazing,” she said.
Ottenbreit was in a wheelchair and on oxygen and had sold her house across from Uplands School, said Bernard.
Ottenbreit was also the guardian of granddaughter Maggy Ottenbreit who has developed a reputation as an up and coming singer.
She sang the national anthem at the Terrace is Hockeyville exhibition game between the Vancouver Canucks and the New York Islanders here in Sept. 2009 and, the next year, sang the national anthem at a Canucks game in Vancouver.
“She knew she wasn't doing well,” said Bernard of Ottenbreit.
Bernard said Ottenbreit had courage, strength and a strong sense of righteousness.
No funeral service is planned as per Ottenbreit's request.