Susan Lockwood

Our remarkable friend and relative Susan Patricia Lockwood died peacefully on Saturday, February 17, only seven days after her 77th birthday. Sue handled cancer – she made it clear that she did not “battle” it – with her typical elegance and dignity, slipping away at Kensington Hospice in Toronto as classical music played.

Sue was born on February 10, 1941 in Mellor, England to Vaudrey and Reginald Beere (both deceased).) She immigrated to Canada in 1966, joining Air Canada as a flight attendant. Promoted to the role of Supervisor of Domestic Flights, she co-founded the Station Terminal Operations Control centre, and then oversaw the planning of flights throughout North America and the Caribbean. Before she retired in 1994, she had crisscrossed the globe, relishing the travel and telling captivating tales of her adventures in Europe, India and Southeast Asian nations. She formed friendships at Air Canada that endured throughout her lifetime: Colleen Pulley, Lisa Martin, Marlene Warren, Joan Ryan, Louise Neagle and Jean Downie.

She is survived by her family in England, Heather and Michael Sandell, along with their children and grandchildren, as well as Neil and Jane Montgomery; her aunt, Sheila Lamont, and her beloved cousin Donna Cultrera and her husband Basil in Toronto; (Donna returned from Florida to share laughter and childhood memories with Sue at the hospice); her cousin Heather and husband Thor Jepsen in Calgary; and her cousin Tony Buckley and wife Dorothy and family in Bermuda. Sue also leaves many friends including Dee Moog, Ruth Gannon, Michael Gerard, Angela Ferrante, Tom Kierans, Mary Janigan and Virginia West, who accompanied Sue to so many difficult medical appointments.

Sue loved the Ladies’ Golf Club of Toronto, mingling with friends in the quaint clubhouse and on the tranquil course. She adored classical music and opera, taking many opera tours to Europe and attending music-appreciation classes at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto. She read history voraciously. She approached life with warmth and kindness and wry humour – coupled with delicate British reserve. She went to the Stratford Festival every year, and often to the Shaw Festival, selecting her tickets with discernment. (She attended regularly with her late friend Mary LeNoir Kierans, and then with Dee Moog.) Many thanks to the Odette Cancer Centre, to the Temmy Latner Centre for Palliative Care and to the sensitive doctors and staff at the Kensington Hospice. A visitation and reception will be held on Friday, February 23rd from 12.00 p.m. to 3.00pm at the R. S. Kane Funeral Home at 6150 Yonge Street in Toronto. In lieu of flowers, donations in Sue’s memory may be made to the Kensington Hospice, the Salvation Army or the Canadian Cancer Society for research . May she soar in peace.