Norma Claire (Brown) LOHBRUNNER
LOHBRUNNER, Norma Claire (Brown) October 14, 1927 October 18, 2011 The matriarch of our family left us on October 18, 2011. She will be deeply missed by her family and friends. Next to her family, she loved her home and gardens. She was a wonderful mom, grandmother and friend, and a great cook and gardener. At her request a celebration of life will be held at 1152 Lippincott Road on October 29, 2011, 11am to 5pm. Please bring a memory to share with us. Flowers gratefully declined. Published in Victoria Times-Colonist on October 22, 2011
The story below was written by a former TLC staff person in 2008. It shares a beautiful experience of a planned gift and the personality of Norma. She was such a wonderful lady – we will miss her.
This Land is Not to be Developed!
At the end of Lippincott Rd in Langford, BC, is a long country driveway leading to a small white farmhouse, with hayfields to the right and a forest rising up behind. This was my first visit to Norma Lohbrunner’s home, she had invited me to discuss the future of her 16-ha property with The Land Conservancy of BC. An active and bright eyed octogenarian, Norma welcomed me in warmly while at the same time giving me an appraising look. I knew right away that she was someone that I was going to enjoy spending time with, and felt the pressure of her keen mind weighing up whether the feeling was mutual.
Deciding she was not one to mince words, I asked about her vision for the future of the land. Her answer was something I heard her say many times over the coming months: “This land is not to be developed”.
When Norma married Joseph Lohbrunner in 1945 he already owned the land. The house sits between the forest and farmland; the tall lush forest last logged when timber was needed to build the Empress Hotel in Victoria, the farmland blessed with rich, deep soil. “We raised our two children here, grew our own fruit and vegetables, and hunted deer to feed the family. It has been a wonderful life,” says Norma.
Many years ago when times were tough, a man in a big shiny car drove down their driveway, stepped out onto their land and offered them a substantial sum of money to sell. Joseph let the man know in no uncertain terms that the farm was not for sale, and that the land was never to be developed. “This is something we always told our children,” maintains Norma. “They grew up knowing that this home was worth something more than money could buy.”
Norma’s vision was to protect this land from the rampant development she had seen in the region over the past 10 years. Since Joseph passed away in 1968 she wanted to uphold his wishes and to find a way to ensure that it would never fall in the hands of someone that did not appreciate its values. She saw the forest as a calm sanctuary for her beloved bird community and the farmland as a valuable food-producing resource, despite the fact that it had only been used for hay production in the past 12 years. She had been following the work of The Land Conservancy and wondered if there was a way to work together with the land trust to make this dream a reality.
Norma’s vision falls directly within The Land Conservancy’s mandate to protect special places: the forest land has considerable value as an ecological reserve for birds. The farmland falls under the mandate to protect agricultural land for its food producing capabilities to ensure that future generation have access to fresh, local produce.
With the encouragement and support of her granddaughter Gwendolyn Lohbrunner, Norma launched into the process of finding a way to protect the land for future generations. A bequest was out of the question because Norma wanted to see the land protected in her lifetime. She wanted to be a part of the planning for the future of the farm. We looked into the tax benefits of the federal Ecological Gifts program, but her income was not such that it warranted the expense of the appraisal process. “Can’t I just give The Land Conservancy title right now and be done with it?” asked Norma one day over coffee. And that’s exactly what she did.
While the process was a bit more time consuming than she anticipated, Norma ended up giving the farm to TLC using a legal agreement called a ‘life estate’. A ‘life estate’ means that she has given title to The Land Conservancy who assume responsibility for land taxes and maintenance of the exterior of the home. The Land Conservancy’s Board formally agreed to protect the land in perpetuity as per Norma’s wishes. It can never be sold or mortgaged. The farm is now officially called the ‘Joseph Lohbrunner Wild Bird Sanctuary and Farm’.
