'She knew that time was precious," said Mary Willihnganz, Catherine Cashore's sister. "She knew she had one year left, and she did what she loved."
For Ms. Cashore, that meant dining out with friends, going to Stratford and singing in the chorus of her favourite ensembles. Ms. Cashore was born in 1946, in Pennsylvania, and came to Toronto at 18. After earning three degrees at the University of Toronto, she found a job in the university's library system.
Ms. Cashore was very aware of the rights of the oppressed -- which Ms. Willihnganz said was taught them by their father, and she made several trips to Nicaragua in the 1980s.
"Looking around her apartment, I found one button after another from every human-rights cause you could ever espouse," her sister said. "She lived a life of simplicity, never covetous or jealous of the successes of others."
Ms. Cashore died of cancer on April 29. Her funeral was held yesterday, with the family directing memorial donations to the Canadian Amateur Musicians' Camp in Lakefield, Ont.
Oliver Moore