Board of Directors

Meet the Kiwanis Pavilion Board members.

Dave Cockle
Board Chair

Dave is a retired District of Oak Bay Fire Chief and Emergency Program Coordinator. Employed in the fire service with the Oak Bay Fire Department for 32 years (16 in senior management with a focus on emergency management planning & operations). Dave is the current Board Chair of the Oak Bay Kiwanis Health Care Society (Kiwanis Pavilion) serving as a director and chair for 12 years. Dave Is a twelve-year member of the Kiwanis Club of Oak Bay and has served as club President twice and as a club director for six years. Dave also sits on the Board of Directors of the Victoria Kiwanis Housing committee. He is the Vice Chair of the Rose Manor Society a seniors housing facility managed by Oak Bay Kiwanis for BC Housing. Dave is a founding member of the BC Earthquake Alliance and ShakeOutBC where he served as the Board chair until his retirement in 2019. Dave also Volunteers for the Board of Directors of the South Vancouver Island Rangers and is a sitting Director. Dave spent twenty-one years on the Board of CFax Santa’s anonymous retiring as an Honorary Director of that society. When not volunteering Dave spends time with family on their property in Sannich.

Hazel Braithwaite
Vice Chair

Hazel Braithwaite is the Director of Philanthropy at United Way Southern Vancouver Island. Prior to that, she facilitated Adult Learning at Coast Capital Savings for 20 years, worked as a Junior Geophysicist in the oil and gas industry in Calgary and taught Mathematics at the University of Lae in Papua New Guinea. Hazel gives back to the community by sitting on many boards and volunteering for a large number of events. She was elected to her fourth term as a Municipal Councillor in Oak Bay in 2018.

Shane Bushby

Shane Busby, MBA, has served on Oak Bay Kiwanis since 2019. Most of his career is in healthcare and consulting, where he held senior level positions in the BC provincial government, Vancouver Coastal Health, and Alberta Health Services, and as founder of a consulting firm operating in Western Canada. Shane’s expertise and roles span strategy, business cases, projects, operations management, and capital development. Shane continues to provide consulting services and advises multiple Boards and companies. His passions are to “give back”; to inform, educate, and guide; and to otherwise offer professional advisory services and support to organizations wanting to make a difference.

Lorna Curtis

Lorna spent 37 years working in municipal government, 31 of these years in Parks and Recreation where she worked in a variety of positions until finishing her career as the Director of Oak Bay Parks and Recreation Department in 2011. Lorna’s education background is in Public Administration. Lorna has been a member of the Oak Bay Rotary Club since 1997. She has been the club president as well as serving as the Rotary District Governor in 2021/22. She took an active role in starting the Food Rescue Project in Victoria. Where six days a week, trucks pick up fresh produce and dairy products from generous grocery stores and bring them to the Food Security Distribution Centre to be cleaned, sorted and distributed to those who need it the most in our community. She has worked with many non- profits in the community to help raise funds for their programs. Lorna has been a member of the Oak Bay Kiwanis Pavilion Board since 2013 and is chair of the board’s Human Resource Committee and a member of the Finance Committee. When not volunteering Lorna likes to cook for friends, garden, travel and spend time with her family (especially her grandchildren).

Barbara Geis

Barbara was born in Vancouver and raised in Victoria. She joined the Bank of Montreal & retired as Assistant Branch Manager. She is married with two children and one grandchild. Barbara joined the Oak Bay Kiwanis Club in 1995, one of three women who first joined the all men's club. She has served on many Kiwanis Club Boards and committees over the years and was the first female Club President in 1998. She joined the Oak Bay Kiwanis Health Care Society (The Kiwanis Pavilion) in 2004, was Vice Chair for 3 years, on the CQI committee for 6 years, the Building Committee for 5 years and the Finance committee since 2010 (Treasurer & Chair since 2011). She feels honoured & privileged to be working alongside so many caring & devoted people. She is also a long-time member of the downtown Y and enjoys canasta & book club. She & her husband Larry enjoyed many years of travelling together.

John Nason

John was a professional Community Planner (MCIP) with the Province of Saskatchewan from 1981 to 2013 before retiring. He also worked with the City of Saskatoon for 9 years. In October 2016, he moved to Victoria with his wife, Josephine (1948-2018), a retired Clinical Doctoral Psychologist.

In 2017, John joined the Kiwanis Club of Oak Bay to continue his commitment to community service. He is currently a Director of the Oak Bay Health Care Society (Kiwanis Pavilion) and serves as a Trustee at Gordon United Church in Langford, BC. Previously, he was the Secretary of the Kiwanis Club of Saskatoon from 1986 to 2016..

Roy Patt

Roy spent his working career as a Class 1 driving instructor, airbrake instructor, airbrake assessment officer, training manager for a driving school and working in construction as an ironworker welder. Roy is a member of the Oak Bay Kiwanis Club and actively volunteers as a Director on the Kiwanis Pavilion Board, a Director for the Housing Society at Milton Manor as well as assisting with the Tea Room at Willows Beach. When not volunteering for Kiwanis, his hobbies include woodworking and photography.

Sonja Ruthe

Sonja is a Social Worker (MSW) with a background in family therapy, court mediation and emergency management. She currently uses her skill set on contract and to volunteer as part of the Mental Health & Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) team, Canadian Red Cross (CRC) as a facilitator and instructor trainer. She joined CRC in 2005 and has deployed to disasters within Canada and internationally to Haiti, Hurricane Sandy, and Germany to support the Refugee Crisis in 2015. Sonja worked with the District of Oak Bay to coordinate their Public Safety Education Program and manage emergency planning special projects such as the Seniors’ Mitigation & Preparedness Project. She was a founding director of the BC Earthquake Alliance. Sonja received her BSW in Regina, then moved to Germany for 3 years where she met her husband, Hans. They moved around Canada and eventually settled in Victoria in 2001. Volunteering and philanthropy have always been a vital part of Sonja's life. Her hobbies include family genealogy, quilting, gardening, and travelling. Sonja and Hans, love to spend time with their 3 sons and families in BC, Alberta, and Australia, where their two grandchildren live.

Joan Trumble

Joan has been associated with the Pavilion for many years as both her father and her mother-in-law resided at the Pavilion or had respite there. Joan has been a member of the Kiwanis Club of Oak Bay for 25 years and serves as Youth Services Chair for the club. She is also a Board member of the Kiwanis Housing Society and serves as a Trustee for Fairfield United Church in Victoria. On the Pavilion Board, she serves on the Continuous Quality Assurance Committee and the Finance Committee. Joan is a retired employee of the BC Provincial Government Ministry of Finance. Her portfolio included BC Second Mortgages and Collections. Prior to her joining the Ministry of Finance, she was busy raising her four children and later working for a real estate firm. Her hobbies include two book clubs, bridge, travelling and keeping active. In addition to her adult children, she has 10 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren.

Irene Walker

Irene Walker, BScN, RN (ret) has spent over forty years in nursing. She attended the Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) School of Nursing and, after graduating in 1975, worked in the hospital's Neo Natal Intensive Care unit while getting her degree from the University of British Columbia. She has had a wide and varied career ranging from teaching at VGH to Public Health in Penticton, BC where she lived with her husband, Jim. They subsequently moved to Victoria where she managed the In-School Support Program for a contracted agency. They provided nursing support for children requiring nursing assistance in schools. She rounded out her career caring for seniors at several facilities, retiring from Island Health in 2014 as the Manager for Aberdeen Hospital. Irene has been volunteering for several years with Operation Trackshoes. She has been a Board Member at Kiwanis Pavilion since 2015. Her other interests include travel and golf.

Shannon Johnson
CEO
Director of Resident Services and Administration
Mandi Krieger
Administrative Support