HEATHER LYNNE (HENDERSON) DONNELLY, LL.B.

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HEATHER LYNNE (HENDERSON) DONNELLY, LL.B. Passed away peacefully on Monday, October 15, 2007, at the age of 65. She was predeceased by her beloved and devoted husband, Eric Alfred Donnelly. Heather was born and grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and was the loving daughter of J.M. and S. Henderson. As a girl, she was a top student and an avid figure skater. At the age of 17, she won the Canadian Figure-Skating Association's 1959 Gold Medal. She graduated from the University of Manitoba Law School in 1965 at the top of her class. She was a member of the Manitoba and Ontario Bars, the Canadian Bar Association, the Canadian Tax Foundation, the International Fiscal Association and the International Tax Planners Association. Heather commenced her career as a lawyer with the Federal Government Department of Revenue and advised the government on Tax Reform before going into private practice with Fasken Campbell Godfrey where she specialized in estate and tax planning. She was also well known in the federal and provincial courts as an effective litigator. In 1980, she joined a multinational corporation as in-house counsel on domestic and international commercial transactions. During her career, Heather contributed to the publication of the Income Tax Bulletins, and to H R Block's Training Manual. She was a lecturer at Toronto's Osgoode Hall and the Canadian Bar Association and taught at the Ontario Bar Admission course. After she retired in 1984, Heather devoted herself to volunteer work. She spearheaded the widely known and successful Look Good...Feel Better programme for cancer patients at Toronto's Princess Margaret Hospital and initiated its Wig Boutique. As a member of Princess Margaret's Ontario Cancer Institute, she served on its Executive and Advisory Committees and was President of its Hospital Services Committee. Both Heather and Eric were avid golfers, skiers and travellers. Heather will be fondly remembered by her old school Belles of St. Mary's Academy, her many good friends, her caregivers, Suzanne Harte, Samdaye Jaggesar and Kensington's Gorden French and by the many people whose lives she touched. A memorial service for Heather will be held, following the 9:00 a.m. interment of her ashes at Mount Pleasant Cemetery (416-485-9129), on Saturday, November 3 at 10:00 a.m. at Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic Church, 420 Sherbourne St., between Wellesley and Carlton Streets. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation's Oncology Fund, or to St. Michael's Hospital Foundation, c/o Dr. Corine Fischer.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Oct 31, 2007