Anne Louise Priestly-Barcham 1933-2012

LINGUIST, TEACHER, DEVOTED DAUGHTER AND FRIEND

A tribute by Douglas Barcham, elder brother of Anne Louise

Anne Louise was born in Toronto on 6 November 1933 to Anne and Reginald Priestly-Barcham. From an early age, Anne Louise displayed musical abilities and a love of books. Two years later, her brother Douglas was born and three years after that Donald completed the family dynamic.

Anne Louise grew up in Parkdale, where she spent her early years attending Queen Victoria Public School and Parkdale Collegiate Institute. After the family moved to Port Credit in 1949, Anne commuted to Parkdale to complete her High School Education. At the early age of 10 she started studying piano at the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto and completing her studies with first class honours in piano, history and theory in 1951. Anne Louise attended the University of Toronto and graduated with the degrees of Bachelor of Arts in Languages in 1960 and later Master of Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education in 1982.

London England has been a second home to Anne since she lived and worked there in 1960 and 1961. During her first year in London, she followed the few clues she had about her Welsh and English relatives on her Father’s side, to uncover many cousins with whom she has kept in touch through visits over the years.

She then attended the University of Paris at the Sorbonne in 1961, to study French and graduated from there in August 1962.

In September 1962 she was hired by the Board of Education for the City of Toronto to teach High School Languages at Parkdale Collegiate Institute, and remained there until she retired in June 1968.

During that time she met and married Richard Frost in 1965. They enjoyed many years of travelling to British Columbia, England, and parts of Europe. They lived and worked in London in 1968-69, then moved back to Parkdale. They divorced in 1981.

Anne took a position in 1970 as the Family Life Programme Co-ordinator with the Anglican Diocese of Toronto, and later as Family Life Consultant, retiring in 1980. From 1980-1983 Anne was the Director of Teaching/Learning Unit at Scarborough College and then as Staff Development Officer, University of Toronto until 1984. Still in the teaching field, Anne took a position with the Ministry of Transport (MTO) in 1985, as a Staff Development Consultant designing and delivering a wide variety of management and skill development programs for performance improvement. She was also the bilingual representative of MTO at Francophone and Toronto Economic Summits.

After retiring from MTO, she continued to travel to the Barcham family cottage on the Rideau, where she enjoyed hiking, paddling her red canoe and visiting with friends, relatives and neighbours. At home she enjoyed cross country skiing, skating and long walks through High Park. Her favourite activity was dancing.

Anne was always very close to her father Reg [‘ole Lefty’] and when he developed Alzheimer’s disease she was always at his side caring for him until he died in 2002.

Anne remained in her condo on Southport Street in Swansea, while keeping heavily involved with the activities of The Church of the Epiphany and St Mark’s in Parkdale. She loved to travel, and one of her passions later in life was to go on ocean cruises and river cruises in Europe. She also travelled to Nelson, British Columbia to visit her brother Donald and his family over the years. She and her friend Carole Gay travelled to England several times to visit many English relatives and friends. She represented her branch of the Barcham Family at the Barcham Gathering in Norfolk in June 2003.

In 2012, in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, Anne moved to The Grenadier Retirement Residence where she visited with many close friends and constantly kept in touch with her best friends Adele Barcham and Carole Gay.

Anne Louise imprinted a lot of lives during her 80 years. She will be remembered with love and affection.

Don’t weep at my grave,

For I am not there,

I’ve a date with a butterfly

To dance in the air.

I’ll be singing in the sunshine,

Wild and free,

Playing tag with the wind,

While I’m waiting for thee.

The comfort and sweetness of peace

After the clouds, the sunshine,

after the winter, the spring,

after the shower, the rainbow,

for life is a changeable thing.

After the night, the morning,

bidding all darkness cease,

after life’s cares and sorrows,

the comfort and sweetness of peace

[Helen Steiner Rice]