Blossum Gilmour

Growing up in BC

Blossum was born in Kelowna, in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia on 14th May 1973. Her father, Terry Gilmour and her mother, Donna Erickson, had 3 daughters together, Blossum, Danielle and Spring. The three sisters also had two brothers – Paul (Donna’s son) and Jordan (Terry’s son).

Blossum went to primary and secondary school in Kelowna.

Blossum loved to read. She started her life-long passion for reading as a young child, polishing off ALL the Nancy Drew series, which likely led to her taste for adventure in later life.

In secondary school, Blossum tutored other students and volunteered on the Recreational Organising Committee of Kelowna Students (ROCKS!) – very on brand for Blossum!

Blossum also made it to the finals of the Miss Teen Okanagan competition in 1990 (check?), with an excellent article written about her nomination in the newspaper (and the best photo – the only girl with short punky hair!). In her biography for Miss Teen Okanagan, Blossum wrote that she wanted to become a psychologist, after travelling to the mid and far East. She certainly got the travelling part ticked off.

Blossum also joined Toastmasters, a public speaking group, where she aimed to overcome some of her inherent shyness. This definitely helped her in her many leadership roles later in life.

Blossum made several friends from her childhood whom she knew for years to come. Jane was of course her closest friend, whom Blossum loved dearly and would later travel with Blossum and David to Egypt, and make plans to retire together in Portugal. Blossum also met Stephanie in High School and remained friends with her, even being a candle holder at Stephanie’s wedding, years later. Blossum also met Cam during this time, and they stayed in regular contact when Blossum visited Kelowna.

More will be added here with stories from her family and friends as they are shared.

College & Vancouver

Blossum went to Victoria University on Vancouver Island and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 1998.

She was proud that she initially got a scholarship to support her university studies from the Lions (?), though the support of her grandfather. She felt it gave her a connection both to her grandparents and a responsibility to make them, and her parents, proud. She wanted to give back to her community, and this was an important step for her.

She lived on campus on Vancouver Island during the term, and often travelled home to Kelowna in the summer, tree planting in the forest, sometimes alongside her dad, Terry, to earn enough money for the next semester.

In University, Blossum was very active, including with running and participating in a local triathlon. These were the early stages of a life spent exercising and pushing her limits and abilities.

Blossum moved full-time to Vancouver after graduation. She volunteered and worked at a number of not-for-profits around Vancouver, providing services and raising money for the poor and vulnerable populations, including homeless and people living with HIV/AIDS.

She made many new friends during her time at University in Victoria, as well as in Vancouver. She met her friend Suzanne (and later James), whom she stayed close friends with for life. They often shared stories about their younger days, at house parties, but just as often at dinner parties. Suzanne recollects their mutual love of reading, running and swimming.

More will be added to this section as stories from her friends and family are collected. Please share your memories of Blossum from this time.

World Travels

Blossum had a spirit for adventure that wasn’t to be denied. During her university years, Blossum travelled with some friends to Central America, including Coast Rica and Belize. She trekked in the jungle, swam in rivers and oceans and saw the inspiring Angel Falls, which she remembered as an early trigger for knowing she was in the right place. In Belize she went scuba diving for the first time and was hooked – another life passion Blossum would continue.

Blossum would go on to travel to around 34 countries outside Canada, living for 23 years in Japan, Indonesia, The Sudan, Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea and Laos, along with shorter periods in Australia between work.

Accidentally Japan

2002-2003

Blossum returned to Vancouver from her Central America trip in 2000 and knew she wanted to travel more. She had heard about a human rights organisation, Peace Brigades International (PBI), who supported human rights and humanitarian groups to work in conflict zones. Blossum knew she wanted to do this kind of work, helping people who were at risk while building their own communities. She knew to volunteer with PBI in Indonesia she would need to learn the language first and would need to travel to Indonesia for language school. However, she didn’t have any funds and so was saving money to go to volunteer. She had saved just enough and was ready to leave, even giving up her apartment, when she found out that her student loans could not be paused if she was volunteering overseas (which she had presumed it could). So, long story short, she decided to follow one of her friends, Gala, to Japan to teach English at a language school there, where she could save money while getting to live somewhere outside of Canada.

Blossum travelled to Sapporo in Japan in late 2002. She was a bit overwhelmed by jet lag, and the cold, and the culture shock, and had a hard time settling in. She had hoped to be teaching in the same town as her friend Gala, but she wasn’t to start with. Eventually she managed to negotiate to move to Gala’s town, further north. Blossum loved the free cross-country skiing, and the Japanese onsen. However, she didn’t earn a lot teaching, and there were few people to make friends with. Her employer discouraged teachers and students being friends, and generally had a work-culture that infuriated Blossum. Blossum felt that Japanese work culture was very male-chauvinist, and said she had been told repeatedly “The nail that sticks out will be hammered down”. Blossum would not be hammered down, but did not enjoy the experience. She was glad when she saved up enough money to return to Canada and prepare for Indonesia.

Indonesia, PBI and the tsunami

2003-2007

Blossum arrived in Indonesia in 2003 and spent the next 3 months studying Indonesian language in Yogjakarta in central Java. Her letters at the time record her excitement and awe at the interesting new food and transport and city that she was seeing. She made friends at the language school, including with future PBI volunteers, like Rebecca. She loved the new adventure, although with every challenge there are ‘challenges’, like getting locked out of your homestay because the gates are closed at an unknown time, or not being able to talk with family back home. But she talked about loving the Indonesian street food (gado-gado and lodek) and the warm, interesting people she was meeting.

Blossum then moved to Jakarta to start working at PBI. She joined the core Jarkata team and like all volunteers, found it exciting and fulfilling and boring and frustrating! Just what we signed up for. Blossum worked in the Jakarta office for several months and was looking forward to moving to help start up the West papua office in April.

The following is a description by David of Blossum’s time in Indonesia after meeting him:

We first met in January 2004 when we were working in Indonesia for Peace Brigades International. The first time we met in person, Blossum was walking down the stairs in the Medan PBI house where I was living. I had just got home and as I came up the stairs I wondered who this attractive girl was that was in his house. Our meeting was brief, but perhaps a spark had been lit.

A few months later we met up again – on April 14th, I had just returned to Indonesia after a trip home to Australia, and went to stay in the PBI Jakarta house. Blossum was there but about to leave for Papua province the next day. There was a team dinner that night and afterwards everyone went swimming in the pool at the house. It would not be accurate to say Blossum fell for me as much as to say I tried to pick Blossum up (literally), slipped on the wet tiles beside the pool and dropped Blossum on her back. Perhaps she struck her head because she still decided I was a bit alright. She left for Papua the next day, and I escorted her out to the airport, paying for her excess baggage and really hoping to see her again soon. Smitten was a good word for it.

We texted each other a fair bit over the next month or so – probably about 20-40 times a day. Looking back that was our courtship. There was a lot of support for the hard work and circumstances in the Papua office. I moved back to Medan (in Sumatra Island) and we had regular calls – which cost a small fortune, and the texts continued. We arranged to have our first holiday together, along with a PBI friend, Rachel, at a Java southern beach. I pretended I could surf and Blossum pretended she was impressed. Soon after that I moved back to Jakarta and we schemed up ways for Blossum to return to Jakarta – and were successful a few times. 🙂 After a few months Blossum moved back to Jakarta for some time and it was fairly set by then… When we parted in mid-December 2004, Blossum was going back to Canada and me to Australia and there were a few tears shed. When she left for the Jakarta airport, I waved away her taxi, walked inside and, unexpectedly, broke into sobs. Turns out she had taken my heart with her. I still remember how surprised I was by my reaction. Who knew? 

We had plans to meet up in Taiwan to teach English the next year, after I did some PBI training in Indonesia again, and we would see what happens. We didn’t know what would happen but we, unfortunately, didn’t have to wait long…

On 26 December 2004, a tsunami destroyed all coastal areas in Aceh, Indonesia, as well as in Thailand and many other countries. Blossum returned in January to Indonesia and was sent to Aceh to help support PBI’s clients. I had come back to Jakarta to do some trainings for PBI for a few months. Blossum’s work had such an impact that she wanted to stay, and since she was so good, soon there was a job interview for a full-time position. She managed to sneak me into the interview (that was held in Jakarta) and we both got 6 month consultancies – the only catch being that we were in two different cities. This was tough for us, but we had a few joint visits and visa runs to Singapore, and we were very glad when again we were living together, this time in Banda Aceh. We lived there for two years, in the first house of our own. It was a cute little lime colored townhouse and we worked hard, helping with the tsunami relief and reconstruction effort. Blossum worked for Catholic Relief Services for a year, and then moved to the Red Cross, helping with village reconstruction and community liaison. We built a wonderful group of friends who we would know for years. Blossum started to teach yoga weekly for a group of 15-20 people, and I would join sometimes, often falling asleep during the savasana at the end (I only snored once… or twice). We went to occasional parties, trips to nearby islands and to the beach when we weren’t working. We had to do regular visa runs to Singapore and that’s where she met my Aunt Clare, who we would sometimes stay with and she would always buy us dinner at an amazing vegetarian restaurant called Original Sin. It was a lot of hard work, but it was rewarding and we both enjoyed the challenges and achievements of our new careers. 

One of the most fun trips was with some friends to Bukit Lawang in the Samatran jungle, where we saw orangutans in the wild, as well as waterfalls and jungle streams. It was a fun time. 

Another time we went scuba diving in Aceh and Blossum nearly got swept away by the current with the rest of her group. They had to crawl back at the bottom of the sea, holding on to rocks until they clearer the current. That scared her a bit, but as always, her bravery won out and she continued to come up with new places for us to go diving. 

The Sudan

2007-2009

The following is David’s recollection of their time in the Sudan:

After two years working on the Indonesian tsunami response, Blossum decided that the recovery effort in Aceh was going well and she had seen that there was a lot of trouble in Darfur, Sudan. The genocide was happening and she wanted to go to help if she could. She got a great job with RedR, training humanitarian workers from many organizations on how to live and work safely in the Sudan. She bravely travelled over and started work in Darfur, travelling between the provinces and training people as she went. She even started leading yoga classes again, with Darfur’s rooftop yoga being a hit with other humanitarians.  Blossum loved her work as a security trainer with RedR. She got to train humanitarian workers across the 3 provinces of Darfur, who were at extreme risk due to their work and the unstable, on-going armed conflict.

After a few months, I finished up my job in Indonesia and came to join Blossum. As she did in Aceh, Blossum got me a job, this time in Khartoum with GOAL, and we managed mostly to be in the same place for most of the next year, besides our regular field travel. It was an adventurous year. Luckily we were okay, but I had to evacuate staff several times from field locations, in Darfur and the South Sudan border. One time was on Blossum’s birthday, when instead of taking her out to dinner, I was stuck at the office trying to coordinate an evacuation of staff during an active conflict. Blossum helped out by bringing pizza and we all sang her happy birthday between calls to the UN and colleagues.

We enjoyed the restaurants in Khartoum, learning the amazing Ethiopian food and enjoying authentic pizza from the Italian restaurant. We made some really good friends in Khartoum, especially with our colleagues, and loved going to eat (and allegedly drink) and socialise at team houses, and some cafes.

We really loved the opportunities we had to live work and travel in Africa. We had some unforgettable holidays in Kenya (often staying in Nairobi with Ross and Johara), Tanzania, Mauritius (with Clare) and of course Egypt (with the lovely Jane). During an extended visa run in Kenya, Blossum volunteered to do sexual reproductive health training with community groups in the poorer settlements around the city. She also got to spend more time with Jo, Ross and their family. In Kenya we went on safari for the first time, in Amboseli national park, at the foot of Mt. Kilemanjaro. It was amazing for us to see all the wildlife. We also had a holiday in Lamu island, off the coast, where there were no cars and only donkeys. Such an amazing island – so different from our tropical experiences. In Tanzania, we went to the lovely, mythical island of Zanzibar, where we loved the beaches and swimming with dolphins, and stepping on sea urchins (me), and getting stung by jellyfish (Blossum). Mauritius was also amazing, the diving and the beaches and time with Clare. Egypt was mind blowing and a place we remembered regularly. Spending time with Jane there was a blessing – “Lucky man, two wives” I was told all too often by Egyptian. We also managed to go to Canada for David to meet Blossum’s family. They seemed to like me ok, and so we continued along happily.

Australia – part 1

2009

After Sudan we took of 6 months and traveled in Australia, spending a few months in Melbourne with David’s family and friends and then driving for 6 weeks around half the continent, up the east coast and down through the middle, including Ayres Rock and Alice Springs. We made our third travel book documenting this. I remember all the camping we did, and hiking, and diving. I remember driving for hours along a straight road without any bends, while Blossum read the Harry Potter books out loud. She was also studying for her Master’s Degree in Public Health while in the car for hours at a time.

Timor – Leste

2009-2011

It was finally David’s turn to get a job first, and he moved to Timor in mid 2009, which following her final Master’s exams, Blossum followed. We met some old friends from Indonesia,  we made new friends, and enjoyed our daily runs and weekends snorkeling on Jesus’ backside and brunching on the white sand beaches. It was tough in some ways but idyllic in many others. David’s sister, Melissa, came to visit at one stage, which was exciting – our first family visit! 

We spent Christmas 2010 on the small Indonesian island of Bunaken with friends and on New Years Eve, during a discussion about what the future may hold, I asked Blossum to marry me. She said yes and so we went outside to join their friends and watch the fireworks. It was a very happy new year!

After that it took us a month before we started talking about our plans and we eventually decided we should set a date – which for several reasons turned out to be September 2011 – over 18 months in the future. Mostly this was because we wanted to give all our friends and family time to plan and save to come. We want our wedding to be a celebration of our lives together so far and into the future and so it is important that people can come. Also, Blossum didn’t want to be cold so it had to be in late summer. We had been to Emerald Lake, on the edge of the Rocky Mountains in Canada, during our first trip to Canada and knew it would make a very special place to make our vows together.

Papua New Guinea

2011-2017

The following is David’s overview of Blossum’s time in PNG.

David had been travelling every 2 months for work from Timor to PNG, and it came to pass that I was offered a full time job in PNG with CARE. I really liked it there so was keen. Luckily for us, CARE was also recruiting for a new Manager for their new Public Health program, so as Blossum had just got her Masters degree, she was hired and we moved over together in 2011. 

This was another exciting change and challenge. It was more difficult than Timor, and in some ways more and less than Sudan. But we were so lucky to make friends, have exciting and worthwhile work, be living in an amzing culture ans society. We had a daily and weekly routine that we really enjoyed. Sayrday market shopping. Exercise daily at the sports ovals and gym, and Sunday runs up into the hills and villages past our housing compound. Friday drinks and dinner at the Pacific Gardens bar with friends. Saturday tennis at our friends, Shane and Margit’s with pot luck dinners. There was lots to do. 

In our first year in Goroka, we went to Canada to get married. It was a very special time and in our lives, it fit in with the big events and adventures we were taking in our lives and careers.

This was also the place where running as an exercise somehow went next level. Maybe for Blossum it always was. She got me into running for exercise in Indonesia, particularly in Aceh, but it wasn’t super serious then. In Sudan, it went up a notch (as other options dropped), and in Timor it was part of our regular activity each weekend and paired well with the beach breakfasts and snorkelling. But it was in PNG that running found its primetime. 

We had a little group of running friends, including Daniell and Anna who initially took us up ‘the Hill’ – which is how we described the dirt road that went past the front of our compound and twisted up into the villages and forest about 6km up to somewhere near the top of the mountain, near some small waterfalls and streams. We started running that every weekend, and it was tough! It was almost all uphill, except for the section near the town water supply. The first 400m was mild, through the market, but then it went to a 10% grade for 800m, which helped set the scene for the rest of the run. But we loved doing that route, and the training effect at 1600m was excellent. We sometimes went with friends at at times we had a regular running crew of 4-6 people. Often we ran just the two of us. For a few years we were also taking our friends’ two german shapards, who would run side-by-side like a two headed beast, puffing and straining at the leash. This was fun to see their energy, and also cleared a path as people would leap out of the way as we approached. Even other dogs would leave us alone, and there were several we knew well. In PNG, people gave the best names to dogs – Rambo was one we liked that would be shouted out by its owner everytime it would run out to growl at us. We learned to accept that he would be ok. Then there was Sniper, who would sneak up behind and have a snap at our heals if we didn’t pay attention. While Blossum did once get bitten by a dog and needed weeks of treatments, it wasn’t these dogs. 

Anyway, so when Blossum was maybe 38, or early 39, she went away on a work trip with Daniel, and when she came back, she told me she had been discussing with him about turning 40 and wanting to do something challenging, and that she was thinking about a marathon. Daniel, being crazy fit and an ultra-adventure runner, told her she really should do an ultra-marathon, as it was easier because you could walk, and, famously, ‘ if you can run 10k, you can run a half marathon. If you can run a half, you can run a full. And if you can run a full marathon, you can run 100k. 

So she came back with the idea that she wanted to run 100km. In a day. I had previously followed her to a disaster zone and to Sudan, so I was also ready to support her to do a 100k race. She needed my help as a running partner, as running on her own wasn’t safe. So we started training and with her detailed schedule followed daily, we soon enough were running full marathons just as training runs. My first 2 marathon length runs were in training. We also organized an event in Goroka – the Goroka marathon and Highlands Half. There were around 20 friends who joined, with 4 of us running the marathon length. Blossum sadly had an injury at the time, but took over the organizing and officiating, like the volunteer Bossmeri she was. It was a lot of fun and many people enjoyed the day and memories. 

We eventually ran the 100km in Australia, a few hours away from Melbourne. The Surf Coast Century was a wonderful course and we had an amazing run, with a big support crew of family, including all of mine as well as Terry. It was a hard 17 hours, but we made it and I think it was something that both of us have been proud of achieving. We have many great memories from the race and the family experience, and the trip to WA with Terry and Cheryl afterwards. A great time. 

Professionally we both developed a lot in PNG. Blossum went from a program manager, to be the Deputy Country Director for CARE, managing all programs. It was a challenging time but one she relished. She loved her work, her team and the positive impacts their work had in the communities. 

The El Nino drought emergency response in 2015-2016 was probably the hardest she worked, managing the emergency food response as well as all the other programs. She managed a large food distribution response, and conducted many interviews – which allow us to hear her in full professional flight here – and a shorter one in December 2015 here, and a longer one later in the drought response, in July 2016 here.

It was this response that helped us decide that while we loved PNG and the close friends we had made, we needed a break from the work and the pressure of living in a high-risk environment. It happened that my job was ending in December 2016, so Blossum decided to resign her role and we traveled back to Australia to take a break. Blossum also went to New Zealand to visit her friend, Rose, while I finished my work. 

Australia Part 2

Jan-May 2017

We returned to Australia after PNG. We travelled around Victoria, housesitting at 3 different places. We enjoyed time with our Australian family, eating ice cream and relaxing. We then visited friends who live in Fiji, and also went diving with sharks again. 

In Fiji, we got the news that Blossum was offered the position as Country Director for the Mine Action Group in Laos. So we headed back to Australia to pack our things, but Blossum got stopped at immigration in Australia who thought that she might be trying to move to Australia permanently, using a tourist visa. She explained that she was moving to Laos, but Australia has sceptical (asshole) immigration, and although she was allowed in to Australia, afterwards she was not able to get visa on arrival, but instead had to apply for a visa. Very stressful, and Blossum was a bit angry/sad that Australia had such sucky immigration. As of course was I. But there you go. 

Loving Laos

2017 – 2025

We arrived in Laos in May 2017, with a 2-year contract for Blossum. She was working with MAG, an organization that dug up and destroyed unexploded ordinance (UXOs) that had been dropped all over eastern Laos during the American war on Vietnam. There is a staggering number of bombs, large and small, that litter the Laos countryside. At the current rate of clearance, it would take over 200 years to clear. It is ridiculous. So it was work that seemed very impactful. It was also a new career challenge, as Blossum was the Director for the whole organization in Laos, including what started as 800 staff and grew to over 1200 staff. It was a hard job but one she did amazingly. After 2 years, she was offered a new role with an education program, BEQUAL, which was re-designing the national primary school curriculum. Blossum worked with BEQUAL for about 2 years but during COVID, she started to transition to another project, the Lao-Australia Institute (LAI), which was run by the same organization – Tetratech. In the end, Blossum was working full time at LAI, and then eventually part time as their Gender Advisor, while also doing consultancies for other projects in other countries. She was loving that she was working again in the gender and equality space, one that was closest to her heart and passion. This is the work Blossum was doing up until her passing, and she was fulfilled and challenged by it in equal measure. 

We loved the lives we had built in Laos. We had built many close friendships over the years, and although some friends inevitably moved out of Laos, many good friends also stayed. We have lived in Laos for 9 years – by far the longest of any country in our careers. During COVID Blossum was busy with work, but we also got to travel within Laos safely, and we have fond memories of those holidays with our friends. 

We had many amazing trips while living in Laos. We travelled to Indonesia, Thailand, Spain, Turkey, Maldives, Australia, New Zealand, the US and Canada. We ran races in Utah, Malaysia, New Zealand and many in Laos. Our final trip was to the Galapagos, which was somewhere Blossum really wanted to go, and it didn’t disappoint. We loved that trip, only made better by the time we got to spend in Canada afterwards, seeing her family and friends. Blossum’s passing is devastating, but knowing that she got to do so much, and spend time with so many family and friends in the final year, makes it just slightly more bearable. 

In late September 2025, Blossum had knee surgery in Bangkok to repair a torn meniscus and address some pain she was having when running and walking. The surgery went well, but there was a 6-month recovery period, and she couldn’t walk for the first 6-8 weeks. She had just started to walk again, with crutches, at the start of November. Unfortunately, she developed a blood-clot in her leg, that on the morning of November 5^th, detached and travelled to her lungs. This caused a sudden heart attack, and despite resuscitation efforts, by the time she got to the hospital, the damage had already been too much. Blossum passed away in the early hours of November 6^th 2025. She was cremated at a Buddhist temple in Vientiane, as she had wanted, with over 60 friends and family in attendance. A 100-day memorial was also held for her, as is customary in Lao Buddhist practices in February 2026. A final memorial will be held in Canada, with her family and close friends during her birthday week in May 2026.    

Blossum lived by a strong, internal moral compass to help people and right injustices and inequality. She was brave and adventurous, willing to move countries and her life over and over to help those she saw were in need. She was one of the most quietly passionate people – an introvert with a passion to change the world. She never really talked about it, but she quietly lived her motto – Be the change you want to see in the world. She believed that it was personal actions that made things better – fairer and more equal. Blossum was not perfect, and her shyness made it hard for her to be social and outgoing, but she volunteered over and over again to make this world a better place. She is an inspiration to all who knew her and she is deeply, deeply missed.