Jennifer Ayelet Shifrin

A petite woman with a bigger heart, she surmounted life’s challenges with wisdom and compassion. Early family trauma made her deeply sensitive to trauma in others and enabled her to become a respected healer.

Born in England in 1948, she spent her adolescence and early adulthood in Israel, where she studied speech pathology. In 1972, she immigrated to Canada and settled in Winnipeg where she became a speech language pathologist specializing in children. She arrived in the depth of a prairie winter and was shocked into buying her first winter coat, which she kept for more than thirty years.

Her keen mind and passion for learning earned her two post-secondary degrees in psychology and enabled her to transition into private practice as a psychotherapist in North Vancouver, where she raised her daughter Delia. A deeply insightful practitioner, she worked for years to expand the reach and effectiveness of psychotherapists in British Columbia, and continued to advance her own training even after semi-retirement.

Jennifer made a huge difference in the lives of many people. In addition to her work with individuals, she was passionately committed to the causes of social justice, peace and reconciliation between Israeli and Palestinian people. Deeply committed to truth in all things, she devoted recent years to the grassroots humanitarian group ConnectingGaza.org, spearheaded by Rabbi David Mivisair. She supported traumatized Palestinian families in Gaza.

She embraced life. She loved gardening, hiking, travelling and experiencing new cultures and lifestyles. She wrote limericks, had a clever wit and a joyful laugh, and a zest for puzzle solving and good conversation. Her greatest joys were spending time with her family and friends, always ensuring that they felt safe and loved.

She leaves a shocked and saddened family: a loving husband, John J. Barr, of Parksville, BC; a loving daughter Delia Byrnes, and her husband, Tim Piper; a loving stepdaughter Laura Barr of Edmonton, and her husband, Christopher Kyrzyk; and by her brother Malcolm, his wife Devra and their children and grandchildren in the U.K. They are joined by a host of friends, colleagues, and supporters in North America and Europe who will ensure her love continues in their hearts.

Donations in her memory may be made to www.ConnectingGaza.org

A memorial service will be held at Knox United Church in Parksville, BC, on December 22 at 1 pm. It will be streamed live on YouTube at https://youtube.com/live/Oi-YJX2-xQ0.

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