Friends and acquaintances of Eleanor Hadley gathered Saturday afternoon at Barclay Manor to bid farewell to the senior, a tenacious guardian of green space in this city and in particular Stanley Park.
Bruce Mcdonald, author, historian and dear friend to Hadley, spoke of the 93-year-old’s final days. He says even while in hospital fighting the pneumonia that eventually took her life, Hadley was determined to recover and continue her run for park board. Hadley also ran for the board (unsuccessfully) at age 90. Filmmaker Dan Pierce created a video montage of interviews he had done with Hadley during the filming of the documentary The Hollow Tree, which brought smiles to everyone in the room.
Attending the celebration of life were Hadley’s aunt Virginia Maziak and her daughter from Ontario, as well as several former park board chairs and commissioners. Former park board chair Laura McDiarmid told the crowd that while Hadley was famously known for being outspoken, often to the chagrin of the sitting park board, she also played an important role to the democratic process.
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