Articles
General · 4th January 2009
Lorna
Title: Much-loved Environmentalist Passes Peacefully
By Lorna Hancock
A well-loved & respected environmentalist, passed away in her sleep on December 19, 2008. She was bright and active right up until her last day. I, am one of thousands who am honoured to have known her, and will miss her greatly.
Thelma MacAdam was the Chair of the Environmental Committee for Burnaby based Health Action Network Society for over 25 years; providing literally anyone with good, solid, scientific arguments against chloramines, chlorine, fluoride, incineration, food irradiation, pesticides, herbicides, mercury amalgam and so many wide-ranging topics that space prohibits us from continuing. This modest but determined Port Coquitlam grandmother, and environmental activist, has won recognition and awards from right across Canada. She has been profiled and quoted in most Canadian magazines and newspapers, and been a frequent & welcomed guest on radio talk shows.
Rafe Mair says of Thelma, ‘I admired Thelma enormously. The community was a much better place for her fighting the fight for our atmosphere long before it was fashionable to do so. She did, indeed, "make a difference".
Lorna Hancock is the Executive Director of HANS Health Action Network Society – www.hans.org.
By Lorna Hancock
A well-loved & respected environmentalist, passed away in her sleep on December 19, 2008. She was bright and active right up until her last day. I, am one of thousands who am honoured to have known her, and will miss her greatly.
Thelma MacAdam was the Chair of the Environmental Committee for Burnaby based Health Action Network Society for over 25 years; providing literally anyone with good, solid, scientific arguments against chloramines, chlorine, fluoride, incineration, food irradiation, pesticides, herbicides, mercury amalgam and so many wide-ranging topics that space prohibits us from continuing. This modest but determined Port Coquitlam grandmother, and environmental activist, has won recognition and awards from right across Canada. She has been profiled and quoted in most Canadian magazines and newspapers, and been a frequent & welcomed guest on radio talk shows.
Rafe Mair says of Thelma, ‘I admired Thelma enormously. The community was a much better place for her fighting the fight for our atmosphere long before it was fashionable to do so. She did, indeed, "make a difference".
Lorna Hancock is the Executive Director of HANS Health Action Network Society – www.hans.org.
Thelma with good friend, Dorothy Beach
Thelma with Lorna Hancock, Lila Parker, Pauline O'Sullivan, & Dorothy Beach
A sweet poem about Thelma by Nancy Beach
A quote about Thelma
Comment by Loyd Fairweather on 3rd March 2009
"She was only one little lady, but she was a GIANT"...
"She was only one little lady, but she was a GIANT"...
World Peace, Family Peace, & Inner Peace
Comment by Nancy Beach on 3rd March 2009
(the following is the text from Nancy's poem, written for the family & friend memorial for Thelma, at Wilson Centre, Port Coquitlam, on March 1, 2009)
I've left my imprint upon this earth,
It wasn't a loud imprint,
Just a gentle, quiet, soft and
peaceful one,
But those who have ears to hear
will hear it,
And those who have eyes to see
will watch my little seed grow
Until it spreads my imprint to every
heart,
And every ear will hear.
Love to Thelma and family from Nancy Beach
(the following is the text from Nancy's poem, written for the family & friend memorial for Thelma, at Wilson Centre, Port Coquitlam, on March 1, 2009)
I've left my imprint upon this earth,
It wasn't a loud imprint,
Just a gentle, quiet, soft and
peaceful one,
But those who have ears to hear
will hear it,
And those who have eyes to see
will watch my little seed grow
Until it spreads my imprint to every
heart,
And every ear will hear.
Love to Thelma and family from Nancy Beach
Thelma the Intrepid
Comment by Cathrine Gabriel on 22nd February 2009
Memories by Cathrine Gabriel
(read at Thelma's memorial on March 1, 2009)
Who else but Thelma MacAdam would surrender the use of her clothes dryer, just inside her porch door, to a mother raccoon that found it to be the ideal nursery in which to raise her young? And who but Thelma, ambling through her little clutch of free-roaming chickens in her back yard, would refer to them as ‘the girls?’ But, as soon as the slightest whiff of potential threat to the health of Canadians or damage to the environment passed by this same tender-hearted grandmother, Thelma was ready to take on big business or big government, sometimes single-handedly.
For many years at the Health Action Network Society office, I gratefully held the task of assisting Thelma with her work as chair of our Environmental Committee. She kept me busy putting together information packages, preparing press releases, sending off letters, arranging media interviews, organizing press conferences and keeping track of her constant stream of research.
Even well into her seventies Thelma never ceased to amaze me with her quick recall of facts and figures related to pesticides and other environmental contaminants. I recollect accompanying her to a radio call-in show with host, Rafe Mair, and thinking to myself, as I watched her effectively and calmly field questions, that the world needed more dedicated, passionate, activists like Thelma who truly cared about the health and well-being of people and our environment. She was a true environmentalist decades before the word became fashionable.
Nothing intimidated Thelma. At a public rally in Burnaby, when the Gypsy Moth spraying program was a hot issue, I watched how Thelma fearlessly approached one of her adversaries and struck up a conversation about the issue. I was amazed at her skill at remaining calm and cool, but resolved while she stated her position, and challenged his. Moreover, I noticed too, how she kept full respect for the other person, never becoming high-strung, angry, or emotional. Thelma had an uncanny knack for gaining respect and admiration from others, even from those who did not share her views on environmental issues.
Thelma MacAdam was a mentor to me. I still often find myself wondering, “How would Thelma have handled this?” On her eightieth birthday she said to me, “I’ve come this far; I guess I may as well keep on going.” And indeed, people like Thelma just keep on going on in our hearts and memories even after they’ve gone.
- end -
Memories by Cathrine Gabriel
(read at Thelma's memorial on March 1, 2009)
Who else but Thelma MacAdam would surrender the use of her clothes dryer, just inside her porch door, to a mother raccoon that found it to be the ideal nursery in which to raise her young? And who but Thelma, ambling through her little clutch of free-roaming chickens in her back yard, would refer to them as ‘the girls?’ But, as soon as the slightest whiff of potential threat to the health of Canadians or damage to the environment passed by this same tender-hearted grandmother, Thelma was ready to take on big business or big government, sometimes single-handedly.
For many years at the Health Action Network Society office, I gratefully held the task of assisting Thelma with her work as chair of our Environmental Committee. She kept me busy putting together information packages, preparing press releases, sending off letters, arranging media interviews, organizing press conferences and keeping track of her constant stream of research.
Even well into her seventies Thelma never ceased to amaze me with her quick recall of facts and figures related to pesticides and other environmental contaminants. I recollect accompanying her to a radio call-in show with host, Rafe Mair, and thinking to myself, as I watched her effectively and calmly field questions, that the world needed more dedicated, passionate, activists like Thelma who truly cared about the health and well-being of people and our environment. She was a true environmentalist decades before the word became fashionable.
Nothing intimidated Thelma. At a public rally in Burnaby, when the Gypsy Moth spraying program was a hot issue, I watched how Thelma fearlessly approached one of her adversaries and struck up a conversation about the issue. I was amazed at her skill at remaining calm and cool, but resolved while she stated her position, and challenged his. Moreover, I noticed too, how she kept full respect for the other person, never becoming high-strung, angry, or emotional. Thelma had an uncanny knack for gaining respect and admiration from others, even from those who did not share her views on environmental issues.
Thelma MacAdam was a mentor to me. I still often find myself wondering, “How would Thelma have handled this?” On her eightieth birthday she said to me, “I’ve come this far; I guess I may as well keep on going.” And indeed, people like Thelma just keep on going on in our hearts and memories even after they’ve gone.
- end -