Judy Barber Woollcombe

Judy is lovingly mourned by her husband, Stephen Woollcombe, her children with Al Barber, her first husband: Bill (Sharon), David (Karen), Sally (John) and James (Julian), her sister Kathi Fleming McInnes (Bob), her eight grandchildren Gillian, Olivia, Abby, Claire, Simon, Henry, Talia and Zoe, and her step-daughter Dharini Woollcombe (Chris Tolley and their children Olive and Linden). Judy was the daughter of Cherrie Turner Fleming and Torrance Fleming and was predeceased by her older brother Bill.

Born in Oshawa, Judy grew up in Hamilton, Toronto, and Port Credit. After graduating from U of T (in Physical and Occupational Therapy) she was caught up in the zeitgeist of the early ‘sixties. Joining the new Canadian overseas volunteer program CUSO, she ventured to India for a year of eye-opening, attitude-forming, life-changing service at a rural medical center.

Judy had already come to know Al Barber, a medical student in London, Ontario. Before she completed her CUSO assignment, Al flew to India just to be with her, and they were married at the Canadian High Commission in Delhi.

After returning to Canada, she devoted her life mainly to being an active, devoted mother to her four children, born between 1966 and 1976. At the same time, she pursued her career as a physiotherapist, first with the Arthritis Society and later on her own. She subsequently took a post graduate degree in anthropology from Carleton University.

It was at a reunion in India of the early CUSO volunteers in 1998 that Judy’s loving partnership with Steve Woollcombe, a retired Canadian diplomat was born. As her first marriage was coming to an end, Judy and Steve began their long, happy and unbroken love affair, union and marriage.

In this world of divisions, hatred and cynicism, Judy was blessed with an abundance of wonderful qualities and values:

- She was compassionate, kind, thoughtful of others and caring.

- She never passed a homeless person without talking with him or her and then giving money.

- She was always gentle and was revolted by any kind of violence even in a movie or a book.

- She was genuinely humble, open, and radiated equanimity.

- She had a sweet, almost childlike innocence and a delightful, playful sense of humor.

- She was always reluctant to judge or to criticize.

- She was a feminist in her views of social justice, but quietly and gently, not angrily.

Central to her very being throughout her life was her love for her four children. Each one’s concerns and achievements and of course their children and spouses were her preoccupation. She would hesitate before offering a gift to one without offering to all.

She was forever advocating “love for all sentient beings”, whether it be her pets: Gooch the mooch (cat), Mother Moe (turtle) or Oliver (cat) or the mosquito sucking blood from her arm, squirrels stealing from the birdfeeder, or the poor bug somehow stuck inside the double window-pane.

She was a great lover of music. She played her piano almost every day, everything from Bob Dylan to Chopin. She and Steve would often just sit and listen to good music in their home, or go out to concerts. The last photo taken of Judy a few hours before she died on March 3 was a short video of her listening to Rachmaninov’s piano concerto from an iPhone placed on the pillow beside her head. By this time she could no longer talk or hardly move but with excitement in her eyes she was beating time with her hand, trying to conduct!

Throughout her life Judy loved travel and adventure, not only to help others when she could, but out of interest in different cultures and for pure enjoyment and her education. As a young woman, there were family trips with Al and their children. Later, with Steve: several short-term development assistance assignments in Cameroon, Panama, Azerbaizan and Romania; family trips to Poland, Costa Rica, Turkey, Italy, Cuba and the Canadian West; cruises to the Caribbean, Eastern Mediterranean and, a few months before Judy died, the St. Lawrence River and the Maritimes.

She was a loyal, committed, and much beloved friend to so many, including: Steve’s own close family; her Buddhist Sangha; the choir and parishioners of Steve’s Anglican parish; the early CUSO India volunteers; the fellow regular swimmers at the local public pool (who call themselves the Poolies); many of the residents in her apartment building. These and many, many other friends had come to know her and love her.

She had a deep-seated quiet spiritual faith, with prayer and meditation. She was a long-standing member (since 1993) of the Kadampa Buddhist Meditation Centre. She was also warmly welcomed and often participated whole-heartedly with Steve in the Anglican Church services.

Judy’s family wish to thank the medical teams of the Ottawa Hospital, General Campus and the Bruyere Saint Vincent Hospital for their superb work to ensure Judy’s greatest possible comfort and least possible pain in the last seven weeks of her life. Her family would like to express their deepest gratitude to Dr. Sandra Froeschl, Dr. Peter Lawlor and Dr. Nick Tompkins, whose compassionate care made an immeasurable difference to Judy’s final days, as well as the nurses from St. Vincent - Brenda, Malayka, and Angie.

Among Judy’s many regular charity donations, her favorites were Covenant House, Interval House and the Ottawa Mission. A donation in her name would be useful and appreciated.

A Celebration of Judy’s life will be held on Saturday, March 22 from 2 to 4pm in the Hall of St. Bartholomew’s Church, 125 MacKay St. Ottawa.