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Thursday, February 15, 2018
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Steve & Karen Bezanson posted a condolence
Sunday, October 1, 2017
I was so saddened to hear today of Lynn's passing. Although it has been more than 40 years since I last saw my dear cousin it seems like only yesterday. Our sincere condolences to Aunt Shirley, Alexa, Cameron, Barry & Joan and Val & Joe.
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Vicky Scheltgen posted a condolence
Friday, September 29, 2017
I cannot think of Lynn without hearing her wonderful laugh, coming easily and often. Lynn was a huge supported to me in my non-traditional job choice as a carpenter and as my birth coach when I gave birth to my son. I remember in my weakened state watching her taking control at the hospital telling the nursing staff they were not going to hook me up to a machine that wasn’t in my birth plan. She was an amazing advocate on a personal level as well as for anything she felt passionate about. I will miss her.
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Patricia SKy posted a condolence
Monday, September 25, 2017
Lynn has been on my mind since I heard of her passing 3 days ago, so I feel a need to add my tribute... my heart tells me she meant a lot to me. I knew her well when our daughters were babies, and before, in the Oxfam / social justice community. I was fortunate to enjoy her hugely welcoming house parties, and tea in her garden before I left Saskatoon. Her wonderful and unique character is well described by her close colleagues and family - I will simply say she was immensely adorable, admirable, and her absence is deeply felt. Too soon, too soon.
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Puck Janes and Bill Robb posted a condolence
Monday, September 25, 2017
Lynn, the Magnificent! Her smile, her laugh/giggle, her bright eyes and that big personality which was so engaging and charming. Her garden and home were welcoming and beautiful. Lynn wore the best hats. As long as we knew Lynn she was an international and local activist. She did excellent work with volunteers. We have to wonder how many people became passionate about community justice issues as a direct result of their working beside Lynn. Our condolences to Alexa, family, and Lynn's many close friends.
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Roxanne Cave posted a condolence
Sunday, September 24, 2017
I learned about Lynn's death last night at a social event from my dear friend and former Oxfam colleague Miriam Palacios. It took me back to the mid-to late 80's & early 90's at Oxfam where Lynn welcomed me as a sister and modelled how to be many important things all at once with great heart & flair: a loving, working mother; fierce advocate & activist; and good human being. Last night, in the midst of lives being lived fully - women dancing; shared laughter & politics; wine & good food- it felt right to remember Lynn & to raise a glass to her memory. My condolences to her family & all who loved her.
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Michael Murphy posted a condolence
Saturday, September 23, 2017
This is the tribute that I offered today at Lynn's wonderful sendoff.
It’s good to be here with Lynn’s family and so many of her friends as we celebrate her memorable life.
I must give you two advisories. The first is that I may have to take a deep breath from time to time as I talk to you about Lynn. The second is that, at the end of my tribute, I’m going to say loudly “Viva Lynn!” I hope that you will respond with an even louder “Viva!” Let’s try it now.
Viva Lynn! (Enthusiastic response!)
Thank you.
As I wrote up this tribute, I felt that I should have given Lynn a look at a draft some weeks ago. She would have laughed, set me straight on a few facts, suggested that there might be omissions, and told me that I had overdone the praises a bit. But that’s hindsight.
I knew Lynn as a colleague, as an activist and as a dear friend. Let me tell you a little bit about each of those.
I first met Lynn in Edmonton. She was working as a waitress in an Edmonton café and she was a volunteer with the OXFAM-Canada local committee there. OXFAM is a non-governmental organization that helps to finance community projects in the Global South as well as doing educational work aimed at making Canadians aware of issues of poverty and oppression in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Canada. When a job came open in Saskatoon, Lynn applied and was hired as one of the three OXFAM-Canada Prairies Team along with Susan White and myself. Lynn and I were colleagues from 1979 until OXFAM closed the Saskatoon office in 1992. The condolences pages on the Funeral Home website have many tributes from other OXFAM colleagues and of course from the many friends who could not be here today.
Lynn and I worked well together. We never, repeat NEVER, argued, which made our work lives a bit boring but was very good for our productivity. We worked on OXFAM campaigns to oppose apartheid in South Africa, to denounce the military coup in Chile that overthrew and killed Salvador Allende, and to support the struggles of Canada’s indigenous people for justice and self-determination. The staff of OXFAM-Canada unionized as CUPE Local 2722, and the union’s inspiration certainly ran through Lynn’s veins. She was a stalwart union member and an advocate for the rights of working people everywhere.
Lynn was of course also a feminist. The organizations that Lynn worked for and volunteers for were quietly sexist and Lynn worked hard with other women and some men to achieve equality for the women in those organization.*
Some months after OXFAM laid us off, Lynn and I were awarded Global Citizen Awards by the Saskatchewan Council for International Cooperation. Lynn joked that our awards were based more on sympathy than on merit, but we were of course honoured to accept them.
Outside of her work, Lynn was a passionate activist for social justice. She was an active member of the Saskatoon Solidarity Committee and through that committee she helped to build solidarity with popular organizations, unions and other progressive groups in the Global South. Lynn was a real trooper, who could be counted on to organize, to boycott when necessary, to petition, to rally, to support picket lines and to host overseas visitors. Lynn was a founder member of the Saskatoon Peace Coalition and did an amazing job in organizing four well-attended peace conferences in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2015. I’m wearing the beautiful button that Lynn designed for the conferences. One of the people who came from Regina for the 2002 conference wrote in an article afterwards:
I had not finalized my short-list of six workshops, three of which I could actually attend. Lynn Hainsworth, the owner of the warm, welcoming voice at the other end of the line, had patiently listened to me as I sorted out my preferences. She told me I could be in each of my top three choices, which means I'll be able to attend a workshop at each of the three conference theme levels: global, community, and family
But that’s not all she did - when we have an open mike later, I know that some of you will talk about Lynn’s activism in other areas.
Which brings me to Lynn as a friend. Think for a moment of the one word that you would use to describe Lynn………… It was so easy to love Lynn – she was kind, gentle, hospitable and warm. In fact, if she had been a Catholic, she would have been perfect. I will always think of her as upbeat and smiling. When I visited Lynn or talked with her on the phone in the past two years, I was always impressed by how calm she was. When we read the obits we often find the phrase “passed away after a long and courageous battle with cancer”. In Lynn’s case I would add “a long, courageous and chipper battle with cancer”. Amazing.
I can’t recall Lynn ever saying hard things about other people, except political badasses and jackasses and their corporate sponsors. Of course, from time to time she would rage against the medical profession, but mildly and not for long.
Friends stand by each other and offer support when times are tough. Lynn did exactly that for her friends, including me. In calmer times, Lynn and I had long, enjoyable conversations. We could talk for an hour and still have things to say. We talked about politics, books, friends, our families and of course our beautiful, talented children.
So: let’s say it loud:
Viva Lynn!
Viva!
Viva Lynn!
Viva!
Viva Lynn!
Viva!
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Ken Huish posted a condolence
Saturday, September 23, 2017
Add my name to the long list of people who are sad to hear the news of Lynn’s passing. I also met her through Oxfam-Canada and enjoyed working on activist stuff with her when I lived in Saskatoon. Yes, Lynn was not a diplomat, nor did she embrace compromise, but Lynn was a fearless and tenacious woman whom I was always glad she was on the same side as me. One fond memory I have of Lynn was the night of Bruce Cockburns’s visit to Saskatoon after his return from Nicaragua. We had organized a meeting with the singer after his concert but the show ran late and the Centennial Auditorium kicked us out partway through the event. Lynn invited everybody back to her place so we could continue uninterrupted. My condolences to her family and many friends.
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Laurie Thompson posted a condolence
Saturday, September 23, 2017
Alexa and Cameron, condolences and hugs from Lois and I. We regret we are not with you today. What a wonderful obituary, and the many other comments as well. They all capture so well the Lynn we knew.
My memories of Lynn are of her energy, always ready to take on another battle, project, cause, her beautiful garden, and her wry smile. Rest in peace, Lynn.
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Ruth Millar posted a condolence
Saturday, September 23, 2017
Lynn was indeed a brave, outspoken and feisty woman, whose accomplishments were legion. In this beautiful obituary I have learned more about them, and am even more impressed. I met her through her Oxfam work. The first time I ever saw her, I believe, was at a fund-raiser for the Chileans. I could see she was a force to be reckoned with. Lynn will not be forgotten by those who knew her or worked with her.
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Myra Miller posted a condolence
Saturday, September 23, 2017
Prairie girl...lover of beauty and justice. I cherish my memories of your fierceness, laughter, style, self-awareness and kindness with love and gratitude. Companera Lynn Hainsworth. Presente!
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Harvey McKinnon posted a condolence
Friday, September 22, 2017
I too am saddened to hear about Lynn's passing. I remember her fondly as a fierce advocate for justice when we worked at Oxfam. And after we both left Oxfam, I saw her a few times and occasionally talked to her on the phone. Most recently about six months ago. And I was happy she continued the work that she was passionate about. She lived a full, but too short, life. My condolences to her family and all those who loved her.
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Phillip Penna posted a condolence
Thursday, September 21, 2017
It is truly right that Lynn's life be celebrated. She was a good person, and, for me, she was a friend. I met her 30 years ago at One Sky where she worked with Oxfam-Canada and I was involved with the Inter-Church Uranium Committee. I was 22 years old and green. She befriended and supported me. She honoured the work that I was doing. She did not try to mobilize me to her issues or anything like that - she honoured what I was doing and by doing so she gently invited me to see the work that others were doing was as just as interesting and valuable. Later on, she and I got to work together as part of the Canadian Environmental Network. She was the Coordinator of the Saskatchewan Eco-Network and I was her counterpart in Ontario. Again, she brought her calm tenacity to our discussions, helping us all to think clearly in some difficult organizational moments. She had a broad vision with a commitment to the work that small groups did at the local and neighbourhood level. Indeed, this broader vision was not simply informed by the local work but born from it. She knew that what she (and we) did really mattered. I could say many things about what I admired about her personally, but I will simply say one: In my experience she made no apologies for who she was, what she did, what she thought, or what she believed. It is not that she was proud, uncaring, unthinking or unkind. Rather, it was that she simply knew who she was and what she was about and got on with the business of living. In my experience, this is rare. The world is better because of her, as am I. Her passing makes me sad, but my gladness for knowing her is bigger than my sadness.
My condolences to her family and wide circle of friends and colleagues.
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Jamie Kneen posted a condolence
Thursday, September 21, 2017
I am so sad to hear this news. Lynn was an inspiration to me as a young activist and organizer when I first came to Saskatchewan. Her clear-eyed view of injustice was matched by her will to fight it. I hadn't seen much of her for years, but I have certainly thought of her, and I will continue to do so. I am grateful to have known her.
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Peter Wallace posted a condolence
Thursday, September 21, 2017
I never knew Lynn but know Oxfam and fighting for justice in all its forms especially here in Eastern Canada. She sounds like a wonderful person and I am sorry to have never met her. I am sure Canada and the world has lost a great person in her passing. I take inspiration from her obit and renewal of my activism.
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Kelly Murphy posted a condolence
Thursday, September 21, 2017
I'm very sorry to learn of Lynn's passing. I'm reminded how inspired she was with Alexandra Kollantai's memoir of life in the early stages of the Soviet Union. She chose to name Alexa in large part because of that example of a feminist revolutionary. Lynn never backed away from righteous struggles. She's earned her place in the stories of many just struggles in SK and globally. Rest well Lynn.
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Lynn Grant posted a condolence
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
I first met Lynn in 1981 when I worked as a volunteer with Oxfam in Saskatoon. We became good friends and have remained so since that time. Having the same name, I chose to call myself Lynn 1 and to call her Lynn 2, names that have remained since that time. I have so many good memories of Lynn (as do we all), including her running along the glass wall at the airport in Saskatoon as I was leaving with my husband, calling "Ditch him and come back here" (advice perhaps I should have listened to). Lynn loved Alexa and Cameron, her garden, her cats, her friends her family, and her political beliefs and convictions. I will miss her greatly.
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John Foster posted a condolence
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Fond memories of a courageous and original woman, who contributed greatly to OXFAM, Saskatchewan and her community.
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meyer brownstone posted a condolence
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
I mourn the loss of Lynn and celebrate her life of unremitting struggle for social justice. She played a crucial role in developing the membership and values of Oxfam Canada on the Prairies with emphasis on the importance of empowerment and true participatory democracy. I shared her love of gardening.I send heartfelt condolences to her family, her friends and to her friend and colleague Michael Murphy. I do so personally and as Chair Emeritus of Oxfam Canada. My memory of her will remain undiminished.
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Oxfam Canada posted a condolence
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Please accept deepest condolences from the staff and Board of Oxfam Canada. Lynn is remembered for her incredible contribution to Oxfam's work in Saskatchewan. She was a woman of such deep conviction and commitment to the values of social justice and women's rights that we hold dear. I know she will be very sorely missed by many, especially her family, friends and colleagues.
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Jim Harding posted a condolence
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Lynn was a gem; once when we were overwhelmed by the details of hundreds of people from 20 countries coming to Saskatoon, for the International Uranium Congress, she saved our ass. Steady as she goes Lynn moved into the vacuum of details, working with my father, and everything smoothed out. I came to count on Lynn just being there, with peace conferences, with anti-nuclear work, and with, always meaningful and spirited, conversations when I visited her. She was a true comrade and friend and I will miss that steadfast Lynn is there. Much love to her family and friends as we mourn and celebrate her special life.
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Antoinette Martens posted a condolence
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Dear Alexa, so sorry you have to miss Lynn, so glad she was with you at your marriage. My condolences to your grandmother, your aunts and uncles. Curious, resilliant, honest, full humour. Her mind like her garden and pond, beautiful.
X Antoinette
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Dale Dewar posted a condolence
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Yesterday as I drove home from Regina, my phone (which I had propped up for GPS use) slipped and "pocket-dialed" Lynn. Little did I realize how long that long-distance call really was. She may have died peacefully - she told me at the end of August that she had accomplished her goal of being around for your, Alexa & Cameron's, wedding - but she lived feistily! I will miss her.
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Carmen Milenkovic posted a condolence
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
I loved Lynn's laugh and her fierceness, the way she wore her hats and her blue eyes challenging me to be brave. She delighted in the beautiful and the treasures of her garden. Alexa and Cameron, she has surrounded you with a community of stalwarts. As you continue on this path remember that we walk with you. At her most recent birthday she called upon us to nurture and care for you. It is a responsibility we all will share.
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Walter Davis posted a condolence
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Sad to hear of Lynn's passing but love the obituary. She was part of the Saskatoon we treasure. Bill Fields and I send our love to her family.
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Susan White posted a condolence
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
I am so sad to hear of Lynn's passing. I send the warmest of condolences to her family. I have many fond memories of Lynn. She and I supported each other as newbies at Oxfam in 1979. We worked closely together for some 13 years, including in the Oxfam Women's Caucus, where she was a strong voice for equality.
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Ingrid Currie posted a condolence
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
I am sorry to hear of the passing of your mom. Her obituary gave me a glimpse into the life of an incredible woman. Take strength from the good memories you shared with your mother knowing these memories will sustain you into the future.
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Larry Haiven posted a condolence
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
One incident I remember fondly and it shows Lynn as I like to remember her: In the late 90s, Prime Minister Jean Chretien came to Saskatoon. Lynn was in her car when, to her surprise, Chretien's car rolled up beside her. Lynn motioned Chretien to roll down his window, which he did (security wasn't as tight in those days, I guess.) Lynn then gave Chretien an earful about cuts to the CBC. She was fearless.
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Judy Haiven posted a condolence
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Lynn was brave, and fearless. She was a wonderful and loyal friend. She gave me a surprise birthday party once. It's devastating to think she's gone.
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Tracey Mitchell posted a condolence
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Lynn brought her whole self to her work and her friendships and she understood the personal as political. I appreciated her insights very much. She will be missed by many. Condolences to her family and friends.
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Pat Atkinson posted a condolence
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
I was so sorry to hear of Lynn's passing.Lynn was a friend to many who didn't have a voice not only here at home but across the globe. We remember her "fierce and mighty" defence of people she loved and the issues she cared about. Condolences to Alexa and Cameron. Lynn will be missed.
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Martin d'Entremont posted a condolence
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
I remember Lynn well as fierce in her defence of those with no voice and those seeking to express their power. I am very sorry to hear of her passing.
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