Betty Mardiros Passes (Richard Acuna)
Dear Friends,
It is with sadness that I write to inform you about the death of one of the pillars of Alberta’s, and Canada’s, progressive activist community, and one of Parkland Institute’s original members and volunteers. Betty Mardiros, founder of Edmonton’s Raging Grannies and of the Woodsworth-Irvine Socialist Fellowship, died on Friday March 30 in Edmonton.
Betty was a tireless activist and campaigner for a better world. She spent her life as an active participant, leader and organizer of campaigns for peace, against nuclear weapons, for women’s rights, for public medicare, and for democracy. She was an active member of the CCF, and attended the founding convention of the New Democratic Party in 1961.
Betty was one of the first members Parkland Institute ever had (she was member #11), and dedicated numerous hours to moving the work of the Institute forward. From stuffing Parkland Posts to singing at Parkland events, Betty’s support was key in helping Parkland survive and grow beyond its first few years. She never missed a Parkland Conference, and marveled year after year at how each conference was bigger and better than the previous one.
On a personal note, Betty and her husband Tony were instrumental in persuading the Canadian government to accept refugees from Pinochet’s Chile after 1973, and just as instrumental in welcoming and orienting those refugee families (including my own) to life in Alberta. It was their support, and their willingness to turn their home into a haven, that let many Chileans–in many cases still suffering the trauma of imprisonment, torture, and losing loved ones–know that they were not alone in this cold new home.
In 2006 I had the honour of nominating Betty for a Public Interest Alberta Award, and the subsequent privilege of presenting the award to her. I still cannot imagine a more worthy recipient, nor a better example of active citizenship and living your ideals. Betty’s energy and passion will be missed, but her dream of a better world will be carried forward by all of us who were touched by her.
For those of you in Edmonton and area, there will be a public memorial at the downtown Edmonton Public Library Theatre on April 14 at 1:30 pm. Betty’s family has requested that in lieu of flowers people consider a donation to the Council of Canadians or Parkland Institute in Betty’s honour.