Page 122 - ACTL Journal Win24

Honorary Fellow Sandra Day O’Connor passed on December 1, 2023 at the age of ninety-three. Justice O’Connor accepted Fellowship in the College in 1984, three years after taking her seat as the first woman to sit on the United States Supreme Court. She served that Court and our Nation for twenty-four years, retiring in January 2006 to care for her ailing husband; she was of- ten described as the most powerful woman in America. Justice O’Connor remained active in retirement, sitting as a visiting judge on federal appeals courts around the country and speaking and writing widely in support of two of her favorite causes, judicial independence and civics education. She also catered to her six grandchil- dren, taking them on trips and writing two children’s books based on her own colorful childhood on a remote Arizona ranch.
The College has had a special relationship with the Su- preme Courts of the U.S. and Canada, and every Justice of those Courts has accepted our offer of Honorary Fel- lowship, but only three have had College Committees or Awards named for them. Lewis F. Powell, Jr. was President of the College in 1969, three years before his appoint- ment to the U.S. Court; the Lewis F. Powell Jr. Lectures are given in his honor. The Beverly McLachlin Access to Justice Award, named for the former Chief Justice of the Cana- dian Supreme Court, is awarded to a lawyer or judge in Canada or the U.S. who has made an exceptional contri- bution to providing access to justice. And the Sandra Day O’Connor Jurist Award is given – infrequently, because the Award does not assume that the truly exceptional is an annual event – to a judge in the U.S. or Canada who has displayed extraordinary judicial independence under difficult and even dangerous circumstances.
When she was asked how she felt about becoming the first woman on the Court, Justice O’Connor said “It’s all right to be the first to do something, but I didn’t want to be the last woman on the Supreme Court. If I took the job and did a lousy job, it would take a long time to get another one.” She most certainly did not do a lousy job.
Alison Mary Scott (née Burns), wife of Past President David Scott, passed away on July 22, 2023 at age eighty-six. She had been active, energetic and fit, and everyone as- sumed she would live to 100, but in March she was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer. Alison – Burnsie to David and many others
– was an Ottawa girl always (with
a stint 200 kilometers away for a
BA from Queen’s University) and many of her childhood and teenage friends remained her close friends for life. One of those was a fourteen-year-old named David, who became her husband of fifty-nine years and her dance partner for life. When David predeceased her in 2019, Burnsie lost a bit of her spark, but she carried on with grace, always with her cheerful demeanour.
In the early 1960’s Burnsie and David had four children in close succession, and she raised them while also seeing to the needs of a busy and not-unneedy husband.
Still up for more, she and David started building a cot- tage in the late ‘60s, creating a small community of fami- lies called Beaverlost. In those early years, Burnsie got the children packed up, the groceries in the car, then worked amid sawdust and plywood, taking measurements and painting trim. Beaverlost became their true spiritual home. In the city, she hosted dinners for extended family, close friends and, just as often, for David’s legal colleagues, all the while caring for her elderly parents, who lived nearby. She travelled across North America in support of David’s work, attending legal meetings and gala events.
Those closest to her knew she was an introvert, but the rest of us never knew. She was delightful and engaging and won hearts with her ability to connect with people. She was an early adopter of “exercise classes,” played ten- nis with some ferocity, and went regularly to the ballet and the art gallery with good friends. Burnsie never fret- ted about her own comfort. She brushed off pain and inconvenience, and did not stew over things she couldn’t control. She was always positive, never cynical, and kept her judgments and criticisms to herself – though she did not suffer fools gladly. Alison will be remembered by her children - Blair; Tony and partner Ève; Sheila; and Sandy and husband Mike; and by her grandchildren - Trinie and Adrian Heim, and Jacob and Brendan Bays; and by her entire College family.
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