Professor Ann Schabas raised five children and she also earned five degrees

Ann H. Schabas: Professor. Information scientist. Mother. Puzzle solver. Born May 14, 1926, in Toronto; died Nov. 8, 2023, in Toronto, of natural causes; aged 97.

Ann was the youngest child of Margaret and Barker Fairley, both academics. Margaret had studied and taught at Oxford University before they gave degrees to women, and came to Canada in 1912 as the dean of women at the newly founded University of Alberta. There she met Barker, a young professor of German literature who had an illustrious career at the University of Toronto. They befriended the Group of Seven and Ann grew up with their paintings in the house, a collection that now hangs in the Fairley Lounge at the U of T Faculty Club.

Her parents instilled in Ann the courage to go far. She completed a bachelor of science at U of T and a master’s degree at Smith College, both in physics. Just as she was completing her second degree, she reluctantly agreed to accompany a girlfriend to a Saturday evening dance. It was there Ann met Ezra Schabas, the leader of the dance band and a young professor of music at the University of Massachusetts. He was immediately smitten and called Ann up a few days later. “Hi, it’s Ezra,” he said, to which she replied unfazed, “Ezra who?” He persisted, and they married six months later.

Ann became a housewife, raising five children, all born in the 1950s. She sewed Halloween costumes and baked birthday cakes. Ezra freelanced as a clarinetist and, in 1960, became a professor of music at U of T. They were married for more than 70 years.

A portrait of Ms. Schabas when she was in her 20s. After completing a degree in library science at the University of Toronto, she went on to complete an MA and PhD at the University of London, becoming an expert in computer-generated searches and subject classification.Courtesy of family

When the youngest child was ready for nursery school, Ann returned to university, completing a degree in library science at the University of Toronto. She went on to complete an MA and PhD at the University of London, becoming an expert in computer-generated searches and subject classification. All told, she had five degrees to match her five children, a rare achievement then or now.

For 25 years, Ann worked as a professor at U of T, teaching computer programming (SNOBOL) and information science to countless librarians and academics. In the last five years, she served as dean of the faculty of library and information science, as well as a consultant for the Canadian government on Telidon, an interactive videotex system that prefigured our current computer searches.

How did she manage it all? For one, Ezra helped in every way possible, although he only became an adept cook once Ann became dean. For another, groceries were mostly delivered to the house, and inventories, as befitted Ann’s training, were meticulously maintained. The family lived in central Toronto and, starting at a young age, her children learned to use public transit to take themselves to school and after-school activities. Summer vacations were mostly devoted to camping trips, but twice in the 1960s, the family travelled across Europe guided by the then-classic Europe on Five Dollars a Day.

When she was first interviewed for an academic post, in 1964, a senior professor blocked her appointment, not because of her qualifications but because he decided it wouldn’t be fair to her children. He need not have worried. All five – William, Richard, Margaret, Michael and Paul – lead successful and happy lives. Ann lived to see her 12 grandchildren become adults and enjoyed time with her 16 great-grandchildren.

Ann always found time for jigsaw puzzles, bridge or Scrabble. She was the handy-woman around the house, fixing just about anything, and never missed the chance to assemble IKEA furniture if the opportunity presented itself.

Ann was one of those rare persons who is other-regarding, devoting herself to those around her and never complaining. Her modern version of Stoicism is that “it is easy to be easy.” If you take everything without a fuss, it tends to go away. But she also found that a good single-malt Scotch at the end of the day smoothed things over as well.

Margaret Schabas is Ann Schabas’s daughter.

To submit a Lives Lived: lives@globeandmail.com

Lives Lived celebrates the everyday, extraordinary, unheralded lives of Canadians who have recently passed. To learn how to share the story of a family member or friend, go online to tgam.ca/livesguide