Simran Kaur Dhillon
Premium memorial FeaturedLovingly known as “Simmi”
12 July 1993 — 3 March 2025 · aged 31
BC Children's Hospital nurse who filled the ward with paper chains and bhangra
Vancouver, Canada Born in Surrey, British Columbia Resting at Cremated; ashes to be scattered in the Fraser River, SurreyAbout Simran
There are three things you need to know about Simran Dhillon. She laughed with her whole body, she could find a vein on the first try on a frightened five-year-old, and she believed any hospital room could be improved by paper chains.
Born in 1993 in Surrey, British Columbia, the daughter of Harjinder, a long-haul truck driver, and Manjit, who worked nights packing blueberries and days raising two children, Simran grew up between the gurdwara, the hockey rink and the bhangra studio. She earned her nursing degree at the University of British Columbia in 2015, danced on the UBC bhangra team, and in 2016 started at BC Children's Hospital in Vancouver, the place she had wanted to work since she was twelve.
On the paediatric surgical ward she was the nurse who knew every child's favorite song. She hung Canucks banners, cut paper chains in the team's blue and green, and taught half the floor the first steps of bhangra in the playroom. Parents wrote her letters. Colleagues kept them in a binder at the nurses' station that now runs past two hundred pages.
She loved masala chai, long drives to Whistler and terrible karaoke, and she held her faith lightly and gratefully. In her last year, through illness and treatment she called “the long shift,” she held on to the Sikh idea of chardi kala, the spirit that stays in high spirits, and kept making paper chains for the new kids on the ward for as long as her hands allowed.
Simran passed away on 3 March 2025, aged thirty-one, surrounded by her family and the sound of kirtan. She leaves her parents, Harjinder and Manjit; her younger brother Jaskaran; her partner, Arjun; and a ward full of children who will never know how many of their good days she arranged.
“Chardi kala, always. Even on the long shift.”
- Faith
- Sikh
- Place of birth
- Surrey, British Columbia
- Resting place
- Cremated; ashes to be scattered in the Fraser River, Surrey
- Passed away
- 3 March 2025, Vancouver
Antim Sanskar & Sehaj Paath Bhog
Monday, 10 March 2025 at 12:00 UTC
Add to calendarMemorial fund
Simran's Paper Chains: BC Children's Hospital
Gifts will go through the BC Children's Hospital Foundation to buy art supplies, music and toys for the paediatric surgical ward.
$5,923.25 raised of $8,000
74%20 recent contributions
- AN
Anonymous gave $47.50 · 1y ago
- MN
Mohammed Nazir gave $237.50 · 1y ago
- RA
Rabbi Samuel Adler gave $19 · 1y ago
“Pole sana to the family.”
- RM
Rose Mushi gave $47.50 · 1y ago
- JK
Joseph Kinyanjui gave $237.50 · 1y ago
Life journey
Bachelor of Science in Nursing
University of British Columbia2011 – 2015 · Vancouver
Graduated with distinction and the class's loudest laugh.
Member, Bhangra Team
University of British Columbia2011 – 2015 · Vancouver
Performed at campus festivals and, once, at a Canucks intermission.
Registered Nurse, Paediatric Surgical Unit
BC Children's Hospital2016 – 2024 · Vancouver
Eight years caring for children and the families who loved them.
Seva Volunteer, Langar Hall
Sukh Sagar Gurdwara2005 – 2024 · Surrey, British Columbia
Rolled rotis for the community meal on Sunday mornings since she was twelve.
Excellence in Patient Care Award
BC Children's Hospital2021 · Vancouver
Nominated by three families in the same year.
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Family & connections
Simran is survived by
- Harjinder Singh Dhillon· Father
- Manjit Kaur Dhillon· Mother
- Jaskaran Singh Dhillon· Brother
- Arjun Mehta· Partner
Tributes & memories
6 people have shared a memory of Simran.
Knew Simran? Share a memory with the family and everyone who loved them.
Sign in to write a tribute- TB
Former patient, now a university student
I was twelve when I had surgery and I was scared silly. Simran put a Canucks paper crown on me and called me the Captain. I'm studying nursing now because of her. I hope to be half the Captain she was.
- RK
Aunt, Ludhiana
I held Simran when she was one day old and again when she visited Punjab at sixteen. She ran around our village in bare feet and made friends with every child and goat. She told me, “Masi, I'm going to be a nurse.” She was one in every way that matters.
- GG
UBC bhangra teammate
Simran missed every first beat in practice and nailed every performance. She said it was because she waited for the audience. That's how she did everything: she waited for the right moment, and then she lit it up. Chardi kala, my friend.
- LT
Mother of a former patient
My son was on Simran's ward for six weeks at age six. She learned his favorite song, a terrible one about a dinosaur, and sang it to him before every procedure. He is twelve now and still remembers her name. So will I.
- PS
Nursing school roommate
In first year she taught me to say “I don't know, but I'll find out.” In fourth year she taught me to say it with a smile. In every year between, she taught me to eat dessert first. I'll keep doing all three, Simmi.
- DC
Paediatric surgeon, BC Children's Hospital
Simran could calm a terrified child with a single sentence and a paper crown. I trusted her with my hardest cases because she trusted children to be brave. She made me braver too. The ward is quieter today, but I swear the paper chains are still swaying.
