Beth McLaughlin
Teacher, activist, writer, pixie. Born on Jan. 5, 1950, in Grand Falls, N.B.; died on Feb. 22, 2015, in Moncton, N.B., of multiple myeloma, aged 65.
Beth loved to dance. During her annual summer cottage getaway with her sisters and her life partner of 31 years, Helene Robb, she would initiate a dancing circle, even when her chemotherapy treatments had left her with barely the energy to stand. Her 60th birthday party was a sock hop.
Beth grew up in the small bilingual community of Grand Falls, N.B. The eldest in a family of five girls and two boys, her natural curiosity and tendency to push the boundaries landed her in wee patches of trouble, teaching her siblings by example as to what not to do.
She combined the stubborn feistiness of her Irish ancestry with the passion of her adopted Acadian culture. Small in stature, her zest for life was huge, her energy boundless. Friends remember her laughter, twinkling eyes and pixie-like facial expression. In Celtic folklore, pixies are small, mischievous, and fond of gathering outdoors to dance and wrestle.
Beth reserved her wrestling for her causes, particularly environmental issues and women's rights. A tenacious grassroots activist, she helped bring about real change – co-founding, for example, Crossroads for Women, Moncton's shelter for victims of family violence. She loved the outdoors and was an engaged citizen in protecting our natural treasures. A long-time board member of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick (founder of the Southeast chapter), she was a strong proponent of green energy, clean water and sustainable communities. She earned multiple awards, accepted them humbly, and refocused her efforts on work yet to be done.
Beth loved to write, especially short stories, and was nurtured by her local writers' group, the Breach House Gang. Educated at St. Francis Xavier and St. Thomas universities, with degrees in arts and education, she combined her many interests during her career as a French teacher and drama coach at Birchmount School, writing and directing environmentally themed plays for her students. In 2001, she earned a master's degree in environmental studies from Université de Moncton.
I have no memories of Beth alone. If she boarded a bus on her own, by the time she hopped off she had made at least one more friend, and probably had their name and address in her journal. She was devoid of pretension; she gathered us all in, from the mighty to the marginalized, genuinely interested in our stories.
Beth and Helene loved exploring the world. From Machu Picchu to Kathmandu, their shoestring-budget journeys took them twice around the globe. When Beth was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2006, she and Helene decided to treat it as another adventure – new territory, new language, new people to meet. Beth accepted her illness with great dignity and courage, always looking forward with hope.
In the song God is God, one of her idols, Joan Baez, sings that "every day on earth's another chance to get it right." Beth welcomed every day, whether it be filled with high adventure or the challenges of her illness. She found the hope in her latest stem-cell transplant or her newest wonder drug and, yes, the joy of making a new friend on her IV pole-attached travels through hospital corridors. For a long, long time, every day, Beth got it right.
Terry Brennan is married to Beth's sister, Ann.