A champion in all she did

JANET (JAY) BARBARA ACTON

Born: April 10, 1941, in Kirkland Lake, Ont.

Died: Oct. 18, 2012, in Ottawa

Champion skier, entrepreneur, business woman, teacher, wife, mother, dynamo. Jay Acton was ahead of her time. In 1997, she was the driving force and executive director behind an Ottawa grassroots cause, Hug Your Heart. From 1997 to 2003, Hug Your Heart held a once-a-year, daylong event that focused on women’s heart health. Trying to get women to understand that heart disease was their No. 1 killer was an uphill battle at the time, but Jay and a dedicated number of volunteers persevered for five years. She’d undoubtedly get some satisfaction from the fact that recently Barbra Streisand on Piers Morgan’s interview show lamented the fact that heart disease is the cause of death for more than 400,000 women in the United States. Breast cancer kills 39,000. Like Jay and the volunteers behind Hug Your Heart, Streisand bemoaned the lack of research and funding into the causes of women’s heart disease.

Jay was a force to be reckoned with from a young age. Without the persistence of a young Janet Acton, a skiing dynasty wouldn’t have happened in Kirkland Lake. After being introduced to skiing by her sportsminded Aunt Ina, Jay was hooked. She persuaded her father, Fred, to get her skis. Fred bought skis too. Fred would become instrumental in establishing the Kirkland Lake Ski Club. By the time she was in her teens, Jay had become one of the best young skiers in Kirkland Lake. She was one of the top in Ontario at slalom, downhill and cross-country. She was on the team that won the Canadian Junior Ski Championship representing northern Ontario. Jay even attended an Olympic training school in Quebec. She was that good. The whole family ended up being fabulous skiers. Jay’s niece Brigitte skied for Canada in the 2006 and 2010 Olympics.

Her brother Bill remembers her inspiring all of them with her “be the best you can be” attitude. Whether it was swimming, volleyball, basketball or even lifeguarding, Jay gave it her all.

But Jay wasn’t just interested in sports. According to her sister Linda, Jay excelled at being a fashionista too. “She was always able to pick up a trend and be the first of her friends to try a new style or look,” says Linda. She recalls one time when their father went to pick Jay up from a hair appointment but couldn’t find her. No wonder. Jay, a brunette, had gone blond. Her nieces thought her ability to drive and put on nail polish at the same time was pretty cool.

Both of Jay’s sisters, Linda and Wendy, say that Jay couldn’t resist anything with polka dots. “If we saw a sweater with polka dots on it, we’d say ‘that’s a Jay sweater,’ ” says Wendy. Jay’s sense of style was enviable.

Jay and her second husband, Peter, were joined at the hip. They’d been set up on a blind date. Peter arrived at Jay’s home to find a picture of her pinned to the door. Written on the picture was “If you like what you see, knock.” They were married within a year.

There wasn’t a challenge she couldn’t overcome, except one — cancer.

When Jay realized she was dying, she simply told everyone, “I’m dying.”

Jay left this world on her terms, a mere five days after family and friends gathered for a celebration of her life. Vibrant, opinionated and exceedingly generous, Jay leaves behind her husband, Peter; children Ryan and Shanna; grandchildren Bryanna, Grace, Ava and Blake as well as sisters Linda and Wendy and brother, Gordi. Sadly, her brother Bill died just a month after her.