University mourns passing of “’s Rose” Farmer, businessperson, school trustee, chancellor, and lieutenant- governor, Lois Hole is remembered for a lifetime of good works

“I dream of the day when professors, teachers, the U of A, a great champion of lifelong learning, a great librarians, and teacher/librarians are paid as humanitarian, and a much as hockey players.” great Canadian,” says Fraser. “She was loved When the late Honourable Lois Hole, one of the most popu- by all who knew her ’00 LLD (Honorary), lieutenant-gover- lar ambassadors the and will be deeply nor of Alberta, delivered that unscript- University ever had, missed.” ed declaration during the University of and the campus com- Hole was a tireless Alberta’s Celebration of Teaching and munity joined the supporter of the arts, Learning last September, she received a province and the coun- libraries, and educa- loud round of applause. try in mourning her tion, and she con- The beloved chancellor emerita, death on 6 January 2005. tributed to them through affectionately called “Alberta’s Rose” “Lois Hole’s warmth, a number of programs. Her by President Rod Fraser, ’61 BA, ’63 generosity and dedication to special relationship with the MA, always spoke from the heart in a the people of this province touched deepened when language everyone understood. She was many lives. She was a great friend of the University Senate elected her as the 16th chancellor of the University of Alberta, a position she took on with enthusiasm in June 1998. She is perhaps best remembered by many in the University community for her famous hugs, which became part of tradition at convocations, annual general meetings, and any other public vices ceremony. During the University’s fall convocation ceremony in November 2000, at which she was given an hon- orary degree, Fraser praised her for the ens/U of A Creative Ser ds/ Journal strength, charm, and genuine love for students that “blanketed our campus in warmth during your memorable Bruce Edwar Richard Siem Richard Lois Hole and Chancellor Eric Newell at the Chancellor’s Dinner, June 2004 term as chancellor.”

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Honour Deferred ernment appointed her lieutenant-gover- The University of Alberta nor in February Senate originally selected 2000. When she Lois Hole to receive an hon- eventually did orary Doctor of Laws degree receive an honorary in 1998, but she learned a degree from the separate committee had University of also short-listed her for the Alberta, it was for job of chancellor. Hole chose three reasons: the to defer the honour until Senate’s original after the chancellor decision 1998 decision had had been made, because been based on her she thought accepting the Lois Hole in her honorary service to the com- degree regalia degree beforehand might munity, but it also give her an unfair advantage over has a policy to offer an honorary the other short-listed candidates. degree to the incumbent lieutenant- Of course, Hole did become chan- governor early in their term, and to cellor, serving until the federal gov- the chancellor upon retirement. Bidding farewell to the University at her last convocation as chancellor, June 2000.

“She was just a wonderful Chancellor Eric Newell, ’02 LLD about what she and Ted discussed at (Honorary), recalls that when he was dinner last night. Nobody noticed or person, and definitely inspi- chair of the Board of Governors and complained—they were mesmerized rational. She was a tremen- Hole was chancellor, “the two of us and loved the way she told things in dous advocate for public had our roles down—I did the intro- her own folksy and humorous way. ducing and she did the hugging.” But it was always very pointed with a education and the arts, and Newell continues, however, that the very clear message.” had a very special place in real legacy of Lois Hole for the * * * her heart for the University University of Alberta is that she was such a great public champion of public ole was born in Buchanan, of Alberta. One of the education. “People listened to her, and HSaskatchewan, and moved to outstanding things about I think she changed a lot of lives. You Edmonton in her teens, where she attended Strathcona Composite High Lois was that she was very just had to be near her and see how many students came up to her to say School. More than 50 years ago, she inclusive. When she went what a difference she made. She put a and her late husband Ted, ’52 BSc(Ag), into a room everyone was very human face on this university. bought a mixed farm on the Sturgeon “I remember at one of our AGMs, River north of St. Albert, which they drawn towards her. She was the public affairs group really tried to eventually diversified into a vegetable genuinely loved by all, and discipline us to stay right on time, and mixed garden business. In 1979, loved people.” with everything carefully scripted,” their sons, Bill, ’77 BSc(Ag), and Jim, recalls Newell. “But then Lois gets up ’79 BSc(Ag), joined the business full- —Chancellor Eric Newell to the podium and starts from her time, and the farm was incorporated as script. All of a sudden you see the Hole’s Greenhouses and Gardens, Ltd. glasses come down, the paper pushed It is now one of the largest retail green- over to the side, and she starts a story house operations in Western Canada.

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Awards and Honours • Member of the (1999) • Chancellor of the Alberta Order of Excellence (2000) • Gandhi, King, Ikeda Humanitarian Award (2003) • Dame of Justice, Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem • Honorary Patricia, First Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry • Honorary Degrees from (1985), the University of Alberta (2000), (2003), and the University of Lethbridge (2004) Presenting Wayne Gretzky with his honorary degree, June 2000.

Throughout her life, Lois Hole Throughout this time, she also “The heart and soul of focussed on the issues that were most authored six books on gardening, all of Alberta doesn’t lie in the rich important to her. Chief among them them Canadian bestsellers, as well as a were public education, libraries, health collection of memoirs, photographs, farmland, the majestic care, the fine arts, and issues of social and gardening advice entitled I’ll Never Rockies, the precious oil- justice. She gave support and legitimacy Marry a Farmer. She gave hundreds of fields or bustling cities. As to the groups that needed it most and talks on gardening to thousands of peo- to the people who often went unheard. ple across North America, she wrote wondrous and important as In 1967, Hole began her formal sup- columns for the Edmonton Journal, those features may be, that port of lifelong education when she Globe and Mail, and Edmonton Sun, heart resides in our people.” was elected as a trustee for the and she appeared regularly on the Sturgeon School Division. She eventual- “Grapevine” segment of CBC —Lois Hole ly served for 14 years on the division as Television’s Canadian Gardener. trustee and chair before serving an even Among her other public roles, Hole longer tenure, from 1981 to 1998, as a served as a director of the Farm Credit trustee for St. Albert School District #6. Corporation and as Honorary Chair During that time, she was also a mem- for the 27th Canadian Congress on ber of the Athabasca University govern- Criminal Justice and for the Children’s ing council from 1972 to 1983. Her Millennium Fund. She also served as a time as chancellor of the University of board member of the Canadian Alberta was cut short halfway through Heritage Garden Foundation, the Child what was to have been a standard four- and Adolescent Services Association, year term when she was installed as and the Quality of Life Commission. Alberta’s 15th lieutenant-governor in Hole was recognized for her ongo- February 2000. ing contributions to libraries, educa-

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A Family Affair Lois Hole is not the only member of her family to have close ties to the University of Alberta: her husband, Ted, who died in 2003, and her two sons, Bill and Jim, all received Bachelor of Science in Agriculture degrees from the U of A. Ted served on Alumni Council from 1988 to 1992, much of that time as the representative for the Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry, and Home Economics. The Holes were tireless fundraisers for the University. They were co-chairs of the 1992 Annual Fund Campaign, and the family set up the Hole’s Greenhouses and Gardens Leadership Award in 2000 for students entering the Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry,

and Home Economics. vices In 2001, Jim followed in his father’s footsteps, joining Alumni Council as his faculty’s representative. Jim is now one of Alumni Council’s representatives on the University of Alberta Senate, and he has been extensively involved in U of A CreativeSer the creation of Alumni Walk in Quad. Ted and Lois Hole

“Lois Hole’s warmth, tion, and the arts by the establishment nized when the Royal Alexandra of the Lois Hole Library Legacy Hospital in Edmonton named their generosity and dedication to Program (2002), the Alberta School major new expansion the Lois Hole the people of this province Boards Association “Lois Hole Lecture Women’s Hospital (2004). Series” (2003), the Lieutenant touched many lives. She * * * Governor of Alberta Arts Awards was a great friend of the Program (2004), and a new library in ears, laughter, and music attended the occasion as University of U of A, a great champion of Edmonton’s west end to be named for T her (2004). Her support for a robust Alberta staff and students joined peo- lifelong learning, a great public health care system was recog- ple across the city and the province on humanitarian and a great 18 January in celebrating the life and legacy of Lois Hole. Canadian.” The memorial service took place at —President Rod Fraser the Francis Winspear Centre for Music in the city’s downtown core and was simulcast on television and radio. The SUB stage area in the Students’ Union Building filled with faculty, staff, and students who wanted to take part in honouring the beloved public figure. Many in attendance lined up to sign the handmade book of condolences the U of A compiled to present to the Hole family. Jim and Lois Hole, along with President Rod Fraser, at the ribbon-cutting ceremony The proceedings touched on the for Alumni Walk, 1 October 2004. many facets of Hole’s life that

20 new trail SPRING 2005 Lois Hole Steve Lillebuen Addressing alumni at the Reunion 2004 gala dinner.

endeared her to the public: her public Alberta through advocacy for improved “I have faith in a better service to Alberta, her success as a public education and public healthcare. businessperson, her insatiable hunger “Mom often said … that the future, because I have faith for learning and her love of the arts, as strength of a civilization is built upon that most human beings want well as her personal warmth and gen- the depth and breadth of its education- to do the right thing. If we erosity of spirit. al and literary institutions,” he said. “Lois, as we all knew her, was a “Mom devoted her life to spreading can put aside differences in person of singular grace, compassion, the message that education is vital. ideology, if we can learn to and goodwill,” said Deputy Prime Vital not only to solving practical Minister Anne McLellan. “She was an problems, but vital in producing an love one another, then one advocate and a patron of many wor- ethical, compassionate society. Mom’s day we will enjoy a world thy causes, and Albertans young and only regret in life was that she didn’t where no one need live in old will benefit from her vision for have more time to spread that message. years to come.” Now it’s up to all of us to make sure fear, where no one need go “We remember her smile, her gen- that her message isn’t forgotten.” hungry, where everyone can tleness, and her compassion, her abili- “She was a woman with a terrific ty to see the good in all people,” said heart,” agrees Jim Edwards, ’62 BA, enjoy a good education, the Alberta Premier . “She chair of the board of governors. But, fellowship of friendly neigh- truly embodied all that is good about says Edwards, “it wasn’t all hugs. The bours, and the security of a this province.” other part of her legacy is her fearless Many speakers noted the trademark messages on the imperatives of an edu- world at peace with itself at hugs that Hole was famous for bestow- cated, humane society. There were long last.” ing, but her son, Jim, reminded the those who cringed, saying vice-regal audience that she was a passionate representatives aren’t supposed to do —Lois Hole public servant committed to improving that, but it didn’t matter to her. She the quality of life for the people of continued on, and good for her.”

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