ABDALLAH o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2006-10-07 published
ABDALLAH,
Ella▼
Catherine▼ (née
JOHNSON)
Surrounded by the love of her family and in the kind and loving
care of the staff of Middlesex Terrace, Ella Catherine
(JOHNSON)
passed away peacefully on Friday, October 6th, 2006. Beloved
wife of 54 years to the late Wilfred
ABDALLAH (2005.) Dear mother
of Martha (2001,) Steve (Judy,) Mike, Angela (Rob
KINSMAN,) and
Dan (Gwen)
ABDALLAH.
Loving
Nana to Zac, Nick, Brent, Tommy,
Steven, Rachel, Alex and Fraser. Daughter of the late Edna and
Neil JOHNSON.
Ella will be missed by her brothers, Pat (Margaret
Mary,)
Ted
(Leigh) and Bill
JOHNSON, and by her sisters Marie
(Bob) HARDY, Betty (Frank)
HAGGARTY, Madeline
BLACKMORE, Pat
GIGNAC, Margaret (Mike)
FEENEY, and Rosemary
JOHNSON. Predeceased
by brothers Neil and Mike. Dear sister-in-law of Florence (1986),
and Lillian (2005)
ABDALLAH, and Lorraine
McFALL of Covington,
Georgia. The family will receive Friends at the Westview Funeral
Chapel, 709 Wonderland Road North, on Monday October 9th from
2: 00-4:00 and 7:00-9:00 p.m. The Funeral Mass will be celebrated
at St. George's Roman Catholic Church, 1164 Commissioners Road
West, on Tuesday, October 10th, 2006 at 10: 00 a.m. Interment,
Saint Peter's Cemetery. Those wishing to make a donation in memory
of Ella are asked to consider Jesse's Journey or The Easter Seals
Society.
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ABDALLAH o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2006-10-21 published
ABDALLAH,
Ella▲
Catherine▲
To all of those family and Friends, near and far, who helped
us say farewell to our dear Mother and Nana, Ella Catherine
ABDALLAH,
thank you. Your flowers, memorial donations, prayers, and expressions
of sympathy have meant so much to all of us. Mom was an extraordinary
woman and it warmed our hearts to see that she was loved and
respected by so many. Thanks again to the wonderful staff at
Westview Funeral Chapel. And, although you do your jobs very
well and we appreciate your support, we don't want to see you
again for a very long time! To Father John, Mary Catherine
BISHOP,
the Choir and the Catholic Women's League ladies of St. George's
Parish, Mom always loved your beautiful Church and we thank you
for sharing it with her one last time. To Father Frank, the ladies
of Sacred Heart Parish in Delaware, and Linda
COOPER, we thank
you for your spiritual care and comfort, especially in this past,
difficult year since losing Dad. Mom always enjoyed the time
she spent with each of you. And how can we ever thank the wonderful
staff at Middlesex Terrace for their devotion For seven years
you had the pleasure of Mom's advice and candor, sharing your
Friendship in both the good times and the bad. Your love and
care, especially during those last few days was more comforting
than you'll ever know. We're certain that Mom now understands
how very blessed her life really was and how all the suffering
and all the love were meant to bring us together…to build character…to
strengthen our family bond. May she find peace of heart in knowing
that her life was more meaningful than she ever imagined and
that her children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, nieces,
nephews, family and Friends will miss her more than she'll ever
know. - The
ABDALLAH
Family
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ABDEY o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2006-04-04 published
TOWERS,
George
V.
Of Saint Thomas passed away at the Saint Thomas-Elgin General Hospital
Continuing Care Centre on Sunday, April 2, 2006, in his 91st
year. Husband of Ruth
(FINCH)
Rogers
TOWERS and the late Rhoda
(PAFFORD)
TOWERS (1985.) Father of Barbara
EWART and her husband
Robert, and Kenneth V.
TOWERS and his wife
Lois, all of Saint Thomas.
Step-father of Donna
USHER and her husband Glen of Princeton,
and Beth GILLIS and her partner John
DICKSON/DIXON of Tiverton. Also
survived by 7 grandchildren, many great-grandchildren, 1 great-great-granddaughter,
and several nieces and nephews. Predeceased by a great-grand_son,
Scott KYLE, sisters, Elizabeth
GARVEY,
Agnes
TEMPLE and Mildred
WILSON and by brothers, Walter R.
TOWERS and Frederick
TOWERS.
Born in Saint Thomas, May 25, 1915, the
son of the late Walter
and Mary Ann
(ABDEY)
TOWERS. He was the retired divisional vice-president
of manufacturing for Clark Equipment Canada Ltd., Saint Thomas.
George was a member of Grace United Church, a life member of
Saint Thomas Lodge #44, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, a member
of the London Lodge of Perfection, Mocha Temple Shrine, London
and the Hi-Ro Shrine Club of Elgin. Friends will be received
at the Sifton Funeral Home, 118 Wellington Street, Saint Thomas on
Wednesday from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. where the funeral service will
be held on Thursday at 1: 30 p.m. Interment in Elmdale Memorial
Park. Memorial donations to the charity of one's choice gratefully
acknowledged. A Masonic memorial service will be held at the
funeral home on Wednesday at 6: 45 p.m. under the auspices of
Saint Thomas Lodge #44, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons
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ABDEY o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2006-10-04 published
LAGROU,
Margaret
Peacefully at Kensington Village Retirement Home on Tuesday,
October 3, 2006 Margaret loving wife of Gus (Jules)
LAGROU in
her 84th year. Dear aunt of Theresa (Dave)
ABDEY,
Francis
(Norma)
LAGROU, Mary (Barry)
HUNTER, Roger (Melanie)
LAGROU. Predeceased
by her nephew David
LAGROU (2005.) Also survived by many grandnieces,
nephews and family in Belgium. Visitors will be received at John T.
Donohue Funeral Home, 362 Waterloo Street at King Street, on
Wednesday from 2-4 and 7-9 o'clock. Funeral Mass at St. Patrick's
Church, 377 Oakland Avenue at Dundas Street, on Thursday morning
at 11 o'clock. Interment in Saint Peter's Cemetery. Prayers Wednesday
afternoon at 2 o'clock. Donations to the Diabetes Association
would be appreciated.
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ABDULLAH o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2006-04-27 published
Jean LOWERY/LOWREY/LOWRIE/LOWRY,
Nurse And
Union
Organizer (1931-2006)
In 1957, the year she completed training, Ontario nurses were
overworked, underpaid, undervalued and expected to stand when
a doctor entered the room. She decided to do something about it
By Ron CSILLAG,
Special to The Globe and Mail, Page S7
Toronto -- Asked about working conditions for nurses in Ontario
in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Anita
ABDULLAH chuckles in
that exasperated way. "We were indentured servants," sighs the
London, Ontario, nurse, who began working in 1970. "Little more
than glorified slaves." In 1973, newly minted registered nurses
earned $7,736 a year. No health benefits. No occupational safety
provisions. No notice or severance required for layoffs. Overtime
of 30 minutes or less a day was unpaid -- and it added up.
And is it true that a nurse who happened to be sitting was obliged
to stand when a doctor entered the room? Mrs.
ABDULLAH doesn't
pause. "You're darn right. If you didn't, you were disciplined."
Nurses were overworked, underpaid, and undervalued. So, Mrs.
ABDULLAH's
friend and colleague, Jean
LOWERY/LOWREY/LOWRIE/LOWRY, set out to change that -- but
not before she duly noted that the plight of nurses was not completely
the fault of management.
"I was concerned about the apathy of nurses at the time with
respect to working conditions," Mrs.
LOWERY/LOWREY/LOWRIE/LOWRY observed a few years
ago. "The nurses complained constantly over coffee and lunch
but didn't feel comfortable complaining to a higher authority.
They worried about losing their jobs. They didn't have the nerve
to take action. The question for me was, what could be done to
help the situation."
Fortunately for nurses in Ontario, Mrs.
LOWERY/LOWREY/LOWRIE/LOWRY had nerve to spare.
On October 13, 1973, in a landmark meeting in Toronto, more than
300 representatives of 85 independent nurses' organizations from
across the province joined forces to form the Ontario Nurses'
Association, with Mrs.
LOWERY/LOWREY/LOWRIE/LOWRY installed as founding president.
Just nine months later, after a brief but noisy labour dispute,
the Ontario Nurses' Association reached an 18-month agreement
with Queen's Park covering 10,000 registered nurses in 41 hospitals,
boosting starting salaries to $10,200 annually and maximum salaries
by a healthy 50 per cent.
Eventually, the union would bring together 104 separate nurses'
associations.
It was while working as a nurse herself that Mrs.
LOWERY/LOWREY/LOWRIE/LOWRY realized
many of her colleagues were unhappy with their hours, shift work,
low pay and lack of prestige. "When attempts to work with management
to set standards failed, she and others decided that collective
bargaining was the answer," related Ontario Nurses' Association
chief executive officer Lesley
BELL. "
Thousands of registered
nurses have benefited from her efforts since."
Mrs. LOWERY/LOWREY/LOWRIE/LOWRY served two, one-year terms as president of the Ontario
Nurses' Association, today a powerful union representing more
than 51,000 registered nurses and allied health professionals
in hospitals, community health, long-term care, Canadian Blood
Services, clinics and industry. For 16 years, she worked at several
staff positions at the association, retiring in 1991 as an honorary
member.
For a time, she was also director and acting chair of the Ontario
Health Coalition.
Over the past 30 years, the Ontario Nurses' Association has spearheaded
great strides for nurses in pay, layoff provisions, overtime,
parental leave and recognition of previous experience, to name
a few areas.
Mrs. LOWERY/LOWREY/LOWRIE/LOWRY would note with satisfaction the changes brought about
over the years, not only in the strength and power of the nursing
collective, but in how nurses regard themselves. "Today, nurses
don't hesitate to go up to the mike and speak their peace," she
said recently. "Nurses are now much better educated and know
how to achieve a particular goal, whether it concerns working
conditions or any other issue."
The eldest of six children born to farmers in the Caledon region
outside Toronto during the Depression, she was among 14 psychiatric
nursing graduates of the Ontario Hospital in Whitby in 1951,
finishing her studies on time despite a broken hip suffered in
a car accident. Six years later, she received her certification
in public health from the University of Toronto.
It was while nursing in the community-health sector that she
joined a committee formed to hear complaints about working conditions.
In the early 1960s, Mrs.
LOWERY/LOWREY/LOWRIE/LOWRY went to work for the Etobicoke
Health Department at a time when nurses in Peel and Halton counties
were beginning to form their own associations and gain certification
for the purpose of collective bargaining, which proved useful
when they did not get anticipated raises.
Given the low wages and status the job was saddled with in her
day, why did people -- women, back then -- enter the profession
at all?
"The prestige came from the satisfaction we got from making our
patients feel better," offers Mrs.
ABDULLAH. "
Adjusting a pillow,
washing somebody's face, cleaning their teeth, rubbing their
back, sitting and holding their hand, listening to them cry in
pain and trying to soothe them -- that's what made it all worthwhile."
So didn't Mrs.
LOWERY/LOWREY/LOWRIE/LOWRY and other nurses who entered the labour
end of things, locking horns with adversaries, miss that compassion?
"While you missed that gratification of being at a bedside, how
you rationalized [that] was you hoped that through your skills
and your activism, you were able to make a bigger contribution
to your profession," said Mrs.
ABDULLAH, who worked alongside
Mrs. LOWERY/LOWREY/LOWRIE/LOWRY at the Ontario Nurses' Association for a decade.
Mrs. LOWERY/LOWREY/LOWRIE/LOWRY's accomplishments were acknowledged in Ontario's legislature
earlier this month. George Smitherman, Minister of Health and
Long-Term Care, no stranger to the fortunes of nurses in the
province, said the profession today "can proudly claim to be
respected, strong and united. [Nurses] are, as they have always
been, the heart and soul of health care. Today, they are recognized
as such, which is something that they have not always been. Thousands
of nurses have benefited from the efforts made and the example
set by Jean
LOWERY/LOWREY/LOWRIE/LOWRY. As a result of that, hundreds and thousands
of patients have as well."
Another dimension to Jean
LOWERY/LOWREY/LOWRIE/LOWRY was her love of playing nickel
slots at casinos. "In the last few years, she played just from
her winnings," Mrs.
ABDULLAH smiles.
Lamentably, for a nurse, it was a long-time smoking habit that
resulted in the lung cancer that finally claimed her. "She said
to me a couple of weeks ago, 'Ironic isn't it'? recalled Mrs.
ABDULLAH.
" 'All the years I was a public-health nurse advising people
to quit smoking…' "
Jean Marilyn
LOWERY/LOWREY/LOWRIE/LOWRY was born in the Caledon region of Ontario
on September 23, 1931, and died in Toronto on April 3, 2006,
of lung cancer. She was 75. She leaves her long-time partner,
Fred
Barthel, daughter Marylin Bailey and son Paul
LOWERY/LOWREY/LOWRIE/LOWRY, two
grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
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