Remembering Ann Lazear 1926-2021

On March 22, 2021, our community lost an esteemed friend and neighbour in the late Ann Lazear. Mrs. Lazear, née Tarantour, was proud to call Sandy Hill home for over 80 years, recalling in a recent interview her kind reception by fellow neighbour Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. The Sandy Hll rink was where she first got to know her husband.

Mrs. Lazear was an accomplished teacher, poet, and painter, who inspired generations of students. To neighbours on Blackburn Ave., she was the gracious (and quietly glamourous) lady who sent cards and waved hello, always interested in what the other had to say. She especially enjoyed the beauty, life, and activity of Strathcona Park. Witnessing the comings and goings of decades of families, Mrs. Lazear expressed a love for her neighbourhood in all its exuberance and kaleidoscopic diversity. On YouTube, you can watch Mrs. Lazear read ‘In time gone by, with mighty hand’, her 1965 poem that honoured Canada’s new flag. In 2015, Mrs. Lazear’s poem was read in Parliament.

Mrs. Lazear and people like her are those who made and make community. She is missed and will be fondly remembered by her neighbours for years to come.

—Trina Bolam