‘Mother Theresa’ of Peterborough Carol Winter mourned
Carol Winter, who devoted her life to helping the poor, the homeless and the marginalized in Peterborough, has died. She was 75.
Longtime friend Brenda Dales said Ms. Winter died at home early Thursday morning, surrounded by relatives, after struggling for years with respiratory illness.
She was prone to pneumonia; Dales said she’d been quite sick recently, and had a cousin taking care of her at home.
Ms. Winter was described by Dales and by many other friends on Thursday as a selfless person.
“She was our Mother Theresa in Peterborough,” Dales said.
Carol Winter was a tiny, soft-spoken woman who often wore a light headscarf and always seemed to be carrying grocery bags of clothes or food she was about to deliver.
She was never afraid to speak up, or to help out.
When Peterborough had no winter-only warming room for the homeless, she asked priests whether she could quietly shelter people in church basements (they didn’t say no).
When she knew someone was going hungry – even if they lived in a ramshackle rooming house – Ms. Winter would go deliver a hot meal.
When she knew someone who found themselves in jail and needed a visit, Ms. Winter went.
And when city council needed to be reminded of Peterborough’s homeless, there was Ms. Winter at City Hall, speaking in gentle tones but getting her message across.
“She dedicated her life to other people,” Dales said. “Everyone trusted Carol. Everyone loved Carol. She had that personality.”
For 14 years, Dales and Ms. Winter worked together. She kept office hours at the Peterborough Social Planning Council, where Dales is executive director.
Never mind that she was unpaid: three or four days a week, Ms. Winter was in the office so marginalized people could come off the street and talk to her.
Often they were desperate. Dales said they needed to speak with Ms. Winter about how they needed help.
Then Ms. Winter would get on the phone and work her contacts – she knew everyone at every social agency – to try to get services for that person.
“She was constantly there for people,” Dales said.
Dales said Ms. Winter told all her friends she wanted no funeral: her last wish was for the community to hold a party in June, at Emmanuel Church, with a free meal and a bouncy castle.
Janet Wilkins, another friend, said it’s no surprise Ms. Winter didn’t want a funeral: she never wanted attention or recognition.
“She never, ever thought of herself,” Wilkins said. “She was so giving.... I can honestly say Carol had a pure heart.”
Wilkins recalls many times when Ms. Winter would sit with someone in the courthouse, waiting all day for that person to face a judge.
Or other times when Ms. Winter would need a ride to the secondhand store to buy new boots for a person in need.
“She was Vinnies’ best customer,” Wilkins said. “It’s almost impossible for me to believe she was human, she was so giving.”
Rosemary Ganley, a friend for 45 years, thought of Ms. Winter as an intellectual.
Ganley said Ms. Winter had trained as a journalist, and had written newspaper features and many, many letters to the editor over the years.
“This little street lady wasn’t all she was – she was a deep thinker,” Ganley said.
John Martyn, a local housing advocate, knew Ms. Winter for years and said she was highly attuned to social problems.
Martyn also said she was an articulate speaker and a polished writer: “She never got angry – just got her point across very deliberately.”
“I really loved her,” said Margaret Slavin, a friend.
Slavin said that in 2001, Ms. Winter went to Iraq to meet with children caught in conflict there. Back home in Peterborough, Ms. Winter attended peace vigils and spoke of the plight of the Iraqi children.
Slavin also said Ms. Winter had taken care of both her ailing parents until each of them died; from them, she inherited a house and a car.
Slavin said that after her parents were gone, Ms. Winter channeled her energy into looking after the marginalized.
But friends said she didn’t look after herself well, over the years. Slavin said she and others urged Ms. Winter to rest up and to heal from her repeated bouts of pneumonia, but to no avail.
“You couldn’t stop her… she just expended herself,” Slavin said.
Online on Thursday, tributes poured in from people such as Peterborough-Kawartha MP Maryam Monsef, Mayor Daryl Bennett and many citizens and friends.
In a written statement issued on Thursday, Monsef called Ms. Winter “a beloved matriarch of the community.”
“You are irreplaceable, Carol Winter,” she wrote.
Patti Peeters, a long-time friend and fellow advocate for the marginalized, wrote in a Facebook posting that she was crushed to hear of Ms. Winter’s death.
She wrote that Ms. Winter was a perfect person.
“Yes, a perfect woman who was full of true goodness,” Peeters wrote.
Ms. Winter also had admirers among those who work at social agencies in Peterborough. Jim Russell, the CEO of the United Way of Peterborough, called her a force of nature.
“Her integrity was unimpeachable,” he said. “I really thought of her as the epicentre of social justice.”
Christine Post, who runs a program for Peterborough Public Health on poverty and health, often sat on committees with Ms. Winter.
Post said Ms. Winter always knew exactly who was in dire need, at any given moment: “She could call you and say, ‘This person needs help.’”
Christian Harvey, the director of the Warming Room, said Ms. Winter was one of the most inspirational people he’s ever met.
He said he’s never known anyone quite as devoted to others as Ms. Winter.
“She modelled what true activism is,” Harvey said. “She showed that if you live a life of loving all people, it makes a massive difference.”