It is with sadness that we announce the peaceful passing of Georgie Crawford on December 13, 2021 at the Lakeshore Hospital after a life well lived. She was 87. Loving daughter of Clair William Crawford and Mary Grace Owens Crawford, she was predeceased by her siblings David, John, Erma (Macaulay) and Joyce. She will be fondly remembered by her sisters-in-law Janice Crawford and Marilyn Crawford, cherished cousins, nieces and nephews in Ottawa and New Brunswick, devoted friends Marilyn Gollan and Beverly Morris, “surrogate daughters” Patricia Abbott and Erica Phare-Bergh as well by many friends and colleagues. A woman of vision and determination, blessed with a great sense of humour, she was a generous cousin, aunt and friend, a great organizer and hostess. Working with children gave her energy and music was the canvas of her life.

A fervent advocate of arts education for young people, Georgie had a rich career as a teacher and fine arts consultant with the PSBGM/EMSB, where she founded the PSBGM Children’s Chorus in 1980, still going strong as the EMSB Chorale, which she administered for 20 years. Deeply involved in the community, she served as an executive member of the Montreal Council of Women and Delta Kappa Gamma (Gamma Province), volunteered for the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and founded the literacy group Le goût de lire communautaire/Community Born to Read. In 2002 she received a National Choral Award for Distinguished Service from Choral Canada, the Montreal Council of Women’s Woman of the Year Award for her cultural initiatives in the community and Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee Medal.

In keeping with her wishes, Georgie will be cremated and her ashes will be spread next to her parents’ burial place at the Royalton Cemetery in Wicklow, NB near her hometown of Centreville as soon as circumstances permit. A celebration of her life will take place in Montreal later in the spring when it is safe to have a large gathering worthy of Georgie’s many accomplishments, interests and zest for life. Thank you to the staff at the Lakeshore Hospital and the 2nd Floor Care Team at Sélection West Island for the care in the final months and weeks of her life.

To honour Georgie’s memory, a donation to an arts organization of your choice would be fitting and appreciated.