Hundreds of people attended a candlelit procession through downtown Toronto on Tuesday evening to pay their last respects to Canadian icon June Callwood, who died of cancer Saturday at the age of 82.
The procession was organized by Casey House and Jessie's Centre for Teenagers, both of which were founded by Callwood, a social activist who worked tirelessly to eliminate child poverty, homelessness and racism.
"She treated everyone fairly and she was always fighting for social justice and fairness", says Cheuk Kwan, executive director of Harmony Movement and a personal friend of Callwood. "She had empathy for the poor and marginalized."
Callwood was actively engaged in fighting for aboriginal rights, free speech, reproductive health and prison reform. In 2003 she was given the Harmony Award for her contribution to eliminating discrimination in Canada.
She was very accepting of her death, says Kwan. "She realized that she was old and had lived a fruitful life; she had no regrets and was not afraid of dying."
Casey House, a hospice for people living with HIV/AIDS, was named after Callwood's youngest son who died in a car accident. As well as Jessie's Centre for Teenage mothers, she also founded Digger House for street kids and Nellie's Hostel for abused women. Callwood was born into a poor family and her parents had a troubled marriage. After her father left when she was a teenager, she dropped out of school and started working to support the family. "It all flooded back how it hurts to see people eating when you haven't eaten for a day, or two, or three… For the rest of your life, you feel that everything you have can be taken away from you and you can be hungry again," she reminisced to Anne Dublin in her biography June Callwood: A Life of Action. Callwood was married for 63 years to fellow journalist Trent Frayne; they had two sons and two daughters. Talking of their marriage to John Donabie on CBC TV show A Storybook Marriage, Frayne said, "We happened to get closer and closer, it really is an awfully lot of luck" Her husband was one of her strongest supporters. He encouraged her to work in an era where it was not common for married women to work. "He's never felt that if I grew, he would be smaller." said Callwood in the CBC interview.
A social activist, journalist, broadcaster, and lecturer, Callwood received many honours for her exemplary work, some of which include: the Order of Canada, (1988), the Order of Ontario (1988), the Canadian News Hall of Fame (1984) and the Toronto Arts Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award (1990). In 2004 she was awarded the Canadian Journalism Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented to her by fellow journalist Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson.
"She is inspiring to me. I wish I would be like her in my old age," says Kwan. "She is almost like a saint among us—this summarizes her life. These kinds of people don't come around too often."
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