The last time Ann Northrup visited the Vancouver Aquarium, Rita Johnston was just beginning her short run as premier of B.C.
That was 1991 and that was when Northrup, who had spent more than 10,000 hours over 23 years as a volunteer at the aquarium, made the heart-wrenching decision to leave after the roles of volunteers were changed.
On Oct. 29, a quarter of a century since she’d last visited, the Langley resident celebrated her 77th birthday at the aquarium.
“I was in seventh heaven,” she said. “I couldn’t believe how changed the aquarium was. I got lost completely.
“It was truly awesome, it was just super.”
Ann Northrup feeds the Vancouver Aquarium belugas on her 77th birthday trip to the facility.
Her long-overdue visit was set up by Wish of a Lifetime Canada — whose mission is to shift the way society views the elderly by fulfilling their dreams and spreading their stories — and Chartwell Retirement Residences, which owns Langley Gardens, the retirement community where Northrup lives.
Northrup, who grew up in Vancouver, spent summers on her family’s island, where she came to love wildlife, particularly sea mammals. At 50, she was part of an effort that rescued, housed and rehabilitated a young river otter after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989.
Back in her volunteer days with the aquarium, Northrup led educational tours and helped care for the animals. She also performed in the seal show and grew particularly fond of the seals and belugas.
Today, her room at Langley Gardens is covered in photos of marine life and albums full of photos of the animals she worked with and loved abound.
An undated photo of Ann Northrup during her volunteer days at the Vancouver Aquarium.
For her birthday, Northrup took in the beluga and porpoise show, then had a close-up meeting with one of the show’s stars.
“In the end she was able to feed a beluga and she got down on her knees to do it,” said Danielle Axton, a Chartwell employee who accompanied Northrup on her aquarium visit.
“The staff (at Langley Gardens) have never seen her smile so much.”
