ENID ESTER HASSETT (BENNETT) (OLVER)

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ENID ESTER HASSETT (nee BENNETT) (nee OLVER) Born in Brandon, Manitoba, on Earth Day, before there was one - April 22, 1920. She slipped away while dreaming on September 13 at the age of 91. Enid was an environmentalist before there was a movement. She was a feminist before there was a word for it. She was a painter, a writer, a nurse, and someone who found people homes to raise their children. She always championed what was right, and was never addled by artificial restraints. Her philosophy came down to Do whatever you think is right, but Do it. And Dont stop at the first roadblock - there's a way around everything. She was a nurse anesthetist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, and Supervisor of the first Intensive Care Unit at a hospital in Manitoba. She was the top woman real estate agent in Winnipeg in the 1970s, and she made sure she saw the world, traveling far and wide long before it was common. She married a happy, happening Air Force pilot, Frank Olver, who was tragically killed in 1951. They had one daughter, Susan. In 1956 she married a cute, easy-going banker, Vern Hassett, and had one son, Brian, in 1961. An Epic Enid Memorial will be held on the Equinox, Friday, September 23 in Oakville, Ontario. Details and online tribute at BrianHassett.com. Enid is survived by her son Brian Hassett; her sister Marjorie MacAuley in Brandon; three grandchildren, Christopher and Michael LeSavauge, and Elizabeth Sutherland; and three great-grandchildren, Grace and Christopher LeSauvage, and Magdalene Tsushima. Photo: By Brian, inside the crown of The Statue of Liberty.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Sep 17, 2011