Nancy Suzanne Scharbach Williamson

On August 8 Nan Williamson chose to end her years of unrelentingly severe and debilitating pain. She opted instead to ‘go gently into that good night’ with the help of M.A.I.D. This was a measured decision that came from a recognition that her future held no hope of her returning to the kind of life that makes living meaningful and rich.

I have known Nan for close to 50 years. We first met as young English teachers working in the same school. At that time, she had already established herself as a fine teacher, held in high regard by students, colleagues and administrators alike. She was innovative, imaginative and demanding in both focus and delivery. With her honours degree in English, Language and Literature from the University of Toronto as underpinning, along with her lifetime of reading, she taught in a way that opened the door to the subtleties of deep reading and skillful, nuanced and effective writing. She saw film as another important adjunct to broader literacy and with that in mind she developed a unique Ministry-approved film course which was often oversubscribed due to its unique focus, unusually interesting content and Nan at the helm.

Mid-career she shifted directions and became qualified as one of the first Teacher-Librarians in the Province. She was an early trail blazer as she chipped away at the deeply embedded and decidedly archaic notion of the role of the librarian. She was adamant, almost messianic in her insistence that the library be seen as the hub of research-based inquiry and learning, with the Librarian and classroom teacher working in partnership to promote a student-centered learning environment.

Years earlier, while at university, she met and married Rod Williamson, a young Engineering student. Theirs was a relationship that was deeply intellectual, culturally rich, ethically strong and marked by frequent excursions, often to less travelled destinations where their interest in culture further expanded and gelled. All the while they never failed to be mindful of and responsive to social, political, ethical and environmental issues. Over those years they cultivated and sustained close friends and maintained strong and growing ties to family where get-togethers were accompanied by much liveliness and merriment.

When Nan retired early, her life took yet another turn. While Rod’s life was characterized by an impressively wide array of interests and activities, Nan’s attention turned laser-focused on the arts, both as consumer and practitioner. She educated herself in art history and then sought mentors to help her hone her skills. And she became an immensely talented visual artist. She set the benchmark so high that she often abandoned a project because it was not aligning with her notion of what it should/could be. Her imagination was a hard task master.

Her body of work is impressive – diverse, experimental, beautiful and reflective of honest, full throttle engagement. Not surprisingly, many of her paintings were accepted into juried shows.

One winter in San Miguel de Allende, Nan met and was inspired by a poet who encouraged her to try her hand at verse. The same blazing talent that emerged in her as a visual artist found expression in the language of poetry. Over the course of several years, she created a Chapbook and started submitting her work for publication. In total, over 70 of her poems have been accepted and printed by literary magazines and journals throughout North America. Her final book of poetry entitled “Leave the Door Open for the Moon” will be completed posthumously.

Nan was much more than a solitary artist working in some dusty garret. She organized and structured a book club, started a writing group for aspiring poets, organized opportunities for those poets to read their work in public venues and led a number of art talks focused on exhibitions featured in local art galleries. In between these ventures, she taught English, one-on-one to a number of New Canadians. Beyond the help in language acquisition, she gave them friendship - the most powerful antidote against the isolation so many immigrants feel.

She would describe herself, quite unapologetically, as a sybarite. She eschewed physical activity much preferring the richness of the imagination and the stimulation offered by theatre, opera, ballet, art galleries, reading and always her friends and family.

Nan’s passing has carved out a small part of the hearts and minds of those who loved her. We all know that is the way it will remain.

Nan is survived by her sister Pat (Dave) Harris and their 3 sons: Michael, Sean and Stephen and their families. She is predeceased by her younger sister, Deb Scharbach Whiteman and survived by Deb’s children, Jesse and Emily. She leaves her 2 cousins, Carmon Henderson and Trevor Climenhage. Finally, Nan and Rod leave behind their ‘second’ families: the D’Aousts of Tiny Township and Joanne Brown and Shirl Delarue of Peterborough.

It is the wish of Nan and Rod that there be no funeral or Celebration of Life. If you would like, you might consider a donation in their memory to Doctors Without Borders.