Obituary: Former Port Alberni mayor a tireless worker for others
Credit to Author: Stephen Snelgrove| Date: Mon, 14 Oct 2019 22:19:41 +0000
Despite a busy life raising four kids and serving more than two decades in public office as Port Alberni mayor and an MLA, Gillian Trumper never said no to a request for help.
“Everybody always talked about how hard she worked. She was always going,” said Maryann Charbonneau, a longtime family friend and Trumper’s constituency assistant during the four years she served as MLA for Alberni-Qualicum.
Trumper died Friday evening of complications from renal failure, after several years of battling health issues. She was 83 years old.
Trumper was born on April 28, 1936, in Croydon, England, where she trained to be a registered nurse. In 1959, a year after her partner, Michael, moved to Canada, she joined him in Beaver Lodge, Alta., where the couple married.
They moved to Port Alberni with their four young children, Owen, Michael, Carolyn and Trish, in 1969. Michael, a doctor, passed away several years ago.
After moving to Port Alberni, Trumper became involved in the community quickly, serving on the school board and as a city councillor before becoming the city’s longest-serving mayor. She held the position for 18 years, from 1983 to 2001, when she ran a successful B.C. Liberal campaign to win a seat in the provincial legislature.
She was also the city coroner during a few high-profile cases, including the murder of 11-year-old Jessica States in 1996. Despite the interest, Charbonneau said her friend never talked about the cases she worked, because she respected the privacy of the victims’ families.
In all her roles, she took her civic duty, and the protocols surrounding it, seriously, Charbonneau said.
Trumper sat on many boards and committees, including as president and fisheries committee chair of the Union of B.C. Municipalities, West Coast Treaty Advisory Committee chair and Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District board chair. Trumper was also a co-chair for the federal government on the Community Economic Adjustment Initiative Committee and a member of the Advisory Council to the Law Commission of Canada.
In 1993, the City of Port Alberni recognized Trumper’s commitment to public service, naming her Port Alberni Citizen of the Year. A year after she left the mayor’s office, Trumper became the first woman to be awarded the honour of Freedom of the City — the highest honour Port Alberni council can bestow on a person.
Fiercely independent, it was difficult for her to ask for help. When she was struggling with health concerns that required trips to Nanaimo, Charbonneau said she was reluctant to ask friends to make the one-hour drive to get her there.
As a woman holding political office in the early 1980s, Trumper was seen as a trailblazer in the community.
“As her daughter, it never occurred to me that there wasn’t anything I couldn’t achieve as a female,” said Carolyn Trumper. “Port Alberni was lucky to have someone of the calibre of mom and she’s left a long legacy of kindness, generosity and integrity.”
While running a city for nearly two decades kept Trumper busy, she always made time for her family.
They spent days hiking in the mountains, kayaking and sailing on the ocean, and skiing together.
“Sundays were family days,” Carolyn said. “She was a very involved mother, very loving, and lots of fun.”
Trumper is survived by her four children, five grandchildren and two step-grandchildren.
The family is holding a service on Nov. 8 at 2 p.m. at the Italian Hall in Port Alberni.