Celebration of Life set for Sunday at St. Ninian Cathedral
Remembering Jack and Judy O’donnell
A couple that left an indelible mark on arts and culture and their community – in northeastern
Nova Scotia and beyond – will be honoured Sunday (Dec. 2) in Antigonish.
A Celebration of Life, Remembering Jack and Judy O’donnell, will take place at St. Ninian’s Cathedral, starting at 7 p.m.
The celebration – with music and stories – will include performances from members of the O’donnell family, The Men of the Deeps, Scott Macmillan and Mary Jane Lamond, along with other musical guests, friends and colleagues.
Married for more than 57 years, Jack (Oct. 25) and Judy (Nov. 19) passed away, 25 days apart, earlier this year.
Judy, a 1958 graduate of St. F.X.’S Mount Saint Bernard College, started her career in adoption and foster home services.
In the early 1970s, she helped establish the CAMR (now CACL) in Antigonish, eventually serving as program director.
In 1976, she was a key to forming a board of directors that would establish L’arche Antigonish.
Judy helped spearhead establishment of the Antigonish Creative Dance Association, served on the Antigonish Recreation Commission, and worked with the then Nova Scotia Department of Recreation to found the Antigonish Town and County Arts and Crafts Association.
She was also a member of St. Ninian’s Cathedral Choir and volunteered for years with the Antigonish Community Food Bank.
Jack was professor emeritus and former music chair at his alma mater, St. F.X., where worked for 40 years.
He also served for 50 years as conductor and musical director of the well-known Cape Breton coal miners’ choir, The Men of the Deeps.
Jack was a member of the Order of Canada and received honorary degrees from Cape Breton and St. F.X. universities.
His myriad honours also included the East Coast Music Association’s Dr. Helen Creighton Lifetime Achievement Award.
There will be a reception following the celebration of life. St. F.X. fall convocation will take place Saturday (Dec. 1) at the Keating Centre in Antigonish.
The ceremony will get underway at 3 p.m.
More than 200 degrees and diplomas will be conferred, including to 41 graduates of St. F.X.’S Coady Institute’s diploma in development leadership program.
Dr. John F. Dewey, plate tectonics research expert, and
Dr. Thomas De Koninck, for his work in human dignity and for his writings in the philosophy of education, will receive honorary degrees.
Randy Lauff, a senior laboratory instructor in the biology department, will receive the 2018 Outreach Award, while Kelly Thompson, a senior human kinetics lab instructor, will be honoured with the 2018 Outstanding Staff Teaching Award.