Hazel O'Connell
Lieu de naissance : Glace Bay, Nouvelle Ecosse, Canada
Date de naissance : 19 juin 1916
Lieu de décès : Glace Bay, Nouvelle Ecosse, Canada
Date de décès : 8 août 2010
It is with sadness that we, the family, announce the passing of Hazel O'Connell on Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010.
Born June 19, 1916, in Glace Bay, she was the daughter of the late Ben and Ethel (Hardy) Lewis.
Hazel was a member of St. Mary's Anglican Church.
She was educated in Glace Bay and at the Halifax School for the Blind. She trained as a rehabilitation teacher at the Canadian National Institute for the Blind in Toronto and worked throughout the Maritime provinces. Hazel was an advocate for blind and visually impaired people at community, provincial and national levels. Over the years, she was the president of the Glace Bay Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB), the vice-president of the N.S.-P.E.I. Division of the CCB, a national board member of the CCB, a member of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind Advisory Board and a member of the H.R. Hussey Memorial Scholarship committee.
Hazel was an avid reader and she loved to travel. Playing crib and knitting gave her many hours of enjoyment.
Hazel is survived by her daughter, Maurna Whiting (Keith), Glace Bay; grandson, Ian (Pamela) Whiting, Halifax; and granddaughter, Kristin Whiting (Jack Chisholm), Howie Centre. She is also survived by a brother, Earle Lewis, Rhode Island.
As well as her parents, Hazel was predeceased by her husband, Gerald, brothers, Herb, Fred, sisters, Mabel (Withrow) Heustis and Laura Hodder and great-grandson, Oliver Whiting.
Visitation for Hazel will be held Wednesday evening, 6-9 p.m. in V.J. McGillivray Funeral Home, 16 Reserve St., Glace Bay. Hazel will be transferred to St. Mary's Anglican Church at 10 a.m., Thursday with a funeral service to follow at 11 a.m. with Rev. Judi Phillips and Rev. Fev Arnold officiating. Interment will be held in St. Mary's Anglican Cemetery, Glace Bay. A luncheon will follow in the church hall.
Donations in Hazel's memory may be made to a charity of choice.
Online condolences to the O'Connell family are available through www.vjmcgillivray.ca.
