Kerry Vance, MFRC champion, visits staff

Kerry Vance, wife of Chief of the Defence Staff General Jonathan Vance, meets with members of the Esquimalt Military Family Resource Centre at the Colwood Pacific Activity Centre on Nov. 23. Photo by Peter Mallett, Lookout

Peter Mallett, Staff Writer ~

When Kerry Vance stopped by the Colwood Pacific Activity Centre (CPAC) Nov. 23, she made it clear she was excited about the visit but encouraged everyone she met to drop the formalities.

“Call me Kerry, I don’t want to hear Mrs. Vance, I want you to feel comfortable talking with me about whatever concerns you,” said Vance, wife of the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Jonathan Vance.

Vance was in town to participate in Pacific Women’s Day at Royal Roads University on Nov. 24. Ahead of that engagement, she toured the CPAC and met with members of the Esquimalt Military Family Resource Centre (MFRC).

She visited with children in the MFRC Daycare Centre and had a roundtable discussion with MFRC staffers.

The next day she attended Pacific Women’s Day held at Royal Roads University and organized by the MFRC. The event celebrates the role of female military members, spouses and partners, mothers, DND employees and friends of the military. It featured a keynote address by popular military family lifestyle blogger Kim Mills of She is Fierce, specialty workshops, and a mix and mingle lunch.

Vance said women need to take the time to think of themselves and their own needs. 

“Take time for yourself because in the end it will make you stronger. If you are weak, either emotionally, spiritually or physically, you won’t have the power to be effective in life.”

Her unique perspective on selflessness comes from experience since Vance is both a mother and a soldier who served in the United States Army.  She retired from the military in 2015 as a Colonel after more than 25 years of active service.  The child of Irish and Italian immigrant parents, Kerry was born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y.

“Kerry is such a great champion for the cause of military families and our community,” said Jackie Carlé, executor director of the MFRC. “It’s lovely that she is so warm and inviting, and so very interested in the work we do with military families.”

This year’s Pacific Women’s Day was the best attended event in the past five years with 101 registered participants.