Remembering those we lost in 2022

Notable Nova Scotians we’ve lost in 2022 included those who were involved in such fields as business, civil rights, music and politics. Among them were long-time newsmakers, a popular newspaper columnist and a Second World War veteran who had lived to age 100.

Here’s a look at 12 people whose deaths made headlines, or were otherwise publicly acknowledged, during the past year.

Alexa McDonough

When she died Jan. 15, at age 77, tributes poured in from across the country for the NDP luminary known as “Alexa.” She came by her social-justice beliefs and activism honestly – McDonough’s father had been a key player in the 1930s in the forerunner of the New Democratic Party. 

Alexa was a trailblazer: She was the first woman to lead a major political party in Canada when she became leader of the Nova Scotia NDP in 1980. The former social worker went on to lead the federal New Democrats. 

After politics, McDonough was the interim president of Mount Saint Vincent University from 2009 to 2010. She died following a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

Frederick Greene

A business operator who for many years was an entrepreneurial leader in this province’s seafood industry, Greene died Jan. 20 following a brief illness. He was 82. 

Greene owned and operated Fisherman’s Market International, “overseeing its transformation from a local retail outlet on the Halifax waterfront to a leading wholesaler and exporter,” CBC News reported shortly after he died. 

He was an award-winning businessperson: His family’s obituary said Greene won an Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 1995 and was honoured in 2021 with the N.S. Seafood Legacy Award for “his remarkable 60-year contribution to the industry.” 

He was a photography devotee, too, and his pictures were displayed in exhibitions.

Jerrold “Jerry” Blumenthal

The retired municipal councillor for north-end Halifax was a community-oriented guy who advocated for seniors and the disabled, and, in his spare time, was a baseball fan of the highest order. 

Blumenthal was one of Halifax city hall’s few Jewish council members over the years. 

He supported “anyone he felt needed a voice,” an obituary posted online said. Blumenthal had been a teacher and school administrator and “was all about people,” the obit said. 

Aside from his council duties, Blumenthal served one term as a commissioner with the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission. He died Feb. 3, at age 82, after a long illness.

Wanda Robson

She began speaking publicly about her late sister, Viola Desmond, relatively late in life. By the time her voice was stilled, at age 95 on Feb. 6, Robson’s contribution to Desmond’s legacy as a civil rights pioneer in Canada had been great. 

She campaigned long and hard to have her sister’s name cleared, after Desmond was found guilty of a tax offence in 1946 for sitting in a whites-only section of a segregated movie theatre. 

Robson was a humble activist who was as keen about the value of education as she was passionate about her sister’s courage against racism. 

In 2004, she earned a B.A. at age 76 from Cape Breton University. Robson attended the unveiling, in 2018 in Halifax, of a new $10 bill featuring Desmond’s image.

Gerard “Darce” Fardy

The retired CBC journalist, and veteran crusader for governments to disclose more information to the public, ended up reporting on a personal journey through a devastating health matter. 

After he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Fardy wrote columns for The Chronicle Herald about living with dementia that were informative, educational and served a public-awareness purpose. 

An expatriate Newfoundlander, he died March 12 at home in Halifax. Fardy was 89. 

His obituary said when he was a review officer overseeing the province’s freedom-of-information legislation, 

Fardy “drew both admiration and ire” of politicians and civil servants.

John Leefe

A former provincial cabinet minister, Leefe was a long-time Progressive Conservative MLA for Queens. He died June 25 at age 80. 

Leefe began his working life as a teacher. He moved up to senior administration: Assistant Director of Curriculum at the Queens District School Board. 

Leefe was initially elected as an MLA in 1978 and retired from provincial politics in 1999, a release from the premier’s office said. He won six consecutive elections. Leefe’s cabinet positions included Minister of the Environment and Minister of Fisheries. 

He then went on to be elected Mayor of the Region of Queens Municipality, serving until 2012. 

Later, the provincial government appointed Leefe transition co-ordinator to manage two municipal mergers.

William “Marshall” Black

As a young man, Black started in the legal field as a small-town lawyer. He was called to the bar in 1953 and began practicing law in Kentville, an online obituary said. 

Black went on to become the Chief Judge of the Family Court of Nova Scotia. “He always kept in mind the welfare of the children, young people and families,” the obit said. 

According to a release from the Nova Scotia Judiciary, Black retired from the bench in 1994. He served as a per diem judge until the spring of 2004, it said. 

Black was also a past president of the Kentville board of the Victorian Order of Nurses and was a Meals on Wheels volunteer. 

He died July 25 at age 92.

Joel Jacobson

A retired newspaperman, Jacobson was an energetic guy with a penchant for volunteering. 

Consequently, he wore lots of hats: Jacobson’s community service included the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame, Nova Scotia Rehabilitation Centre Foundation, Nova Scotia Special Olympics and Beth Israel Synagogue. 

His volunteer work was duly recognized with the awards he received. 

Jacobson was employed in The Chronicle Herald’s Halifax newsroom for many years, and, during his tenure there, worked as a columnist who filed good-news, “Bright Spot” and “Great Kids” pieces for the paper. 

He died Aug. 18, at age 81, in Oxford, England.

Janet Conners

An outspoken HIV/AIDS activist, Conners and her late husband, Randy, played a big role decades ago pushing for a public inquiry in Canada that looked into a then-flawed blood system. 

Randy was a hemophiliac. He became infected with the human imunodeficiency virus through tainted blood products and died in 1994. Janet was infected after sexual relations with her husband. 

She founded a national organization for people secondarily infected with HIV. 

Her advocacy was formally recognized: Honorary degrees and other public acknowledgement of Conners’s HIV/AIDS awareness work were conferred. 

She died Aug. 20, at age 66, following a fight with cancer.

Patrick Stay

With a passion for music, Pat Stay followed his dreams and became a battle rapper, his family’s obituary said. This style of rap involves a rap performer who competes onstage with other rappers. 

“Throughout the years he became a well-recognized artist,” the obit said. 

He performed at home and abroad, and in 2012 went to Europe to represent Canada in an international rap battling competition, CBC News reported. 

According to CBC, Stay also had a large social media following. His unexpected death elicited statements of grief and praise from such well-known performers as Drake and Eminem. 

Stay was 36 when he died Sept. 4 in a homicide in Halifax. A 31-year-old man is facing a first-degree murder charge.

Leon Joudrey

The Portapique resident was a nature-loving man “known for living life to the fullest,” his family’s obituary said. Joudrey, an experienced forestry technician, had “chosen a career in the woodlands,” it said. 

He had difficulty, emotionally, living in Portapique after the 2020 mass murder, in which he survived but friends and neighbours in the rural area did not. 

They were shot and killed by a lone gunman. In all, 22 people died during a two-day period. 

Joudrey told CTV News in October he’d been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. “I kind of fell through the cracks in the mental health system,” he said. 

Joudrey passed away Oct. 30 at age 54.

(Nova Scotia's Mental Health Crisis Line is available 24/7 by calling toll-free 1-888-429-8167. Kids Help Phone counsellors can be reached at 1-800-668-6868. Call 911 for emergency situations. Additional mental health and wellness resources can be found here or by calling 211.)   

Lemuel Skeete

An elder dedicated to his community in Whitney Pier, Skeete was the last Black Nova Scotian veteran of the Second World War, his obituary said. He served overseas as a mechanic, it said. 

Among other things, Skeete established a day care in Whitney Pier and “was instrumental in setting up after-school programs for youth and a community softball league,” CBC News reported following his death. 

He was one of the first Sydney councillors on the now-defunct Black United Front, a provincewide agency that was an advocacy group and a resource outfit. 

And Skeete helped create the Whitney Pier Non-Profit Housing Society, the obit said. 

He died Nov. 6, five days before Remembrance Day. He was 100.

Michael Lightstone is a freelance reporter living in Dartmouth