A Glebe journey ends

Jill Hamer-Wilson, 1965-2022

By Jono Hamer-Wilson

What a strange world it is with you not in it. This is my thought, coming along Lyon and onto Fifth, glancing down Ralph towards Brown’s Inlet, which you so loved. Lyon Street was your daily childhood path when you lived on First and went to Mutchmor, and later too, when you lived on Fifth and attended Glashan. Daily treks to Montessori as a mum and holding court with your gang in the Mutchmor schoolyard. Not to mention pottery and fitness classes at the Glebe Community Centre and tennis at Glebe St James. How many times did your steps traverse the Lyon Street sidewalk, the air resounding with your voice?

Apart from university and seminary years, and brief stints along the Rideau and Ottawa rivers, Jill (née Hamer) was a lifelong resident of the Glebe. Growing up, she lived on Glebe, Fourth, Fifth and Findlay. (I might be missing one or two – her parents were rather nomadic.) Jill finally landed on Morris Street, where her mother Bernice had bought a home in the early ’80s. Bernice tragically died before the decade was out, leaving Jill, who had no siblings, to be a homeowner and landlord at the age of 22. Jill claimed – and I’ve never heard it contradicted – that it was Bernice’s idea to rename the easternmost blocks of Carling “Glebe Avenue,” when the city wanted to turn it into a major east-west thoroughfare, back in the headiest days of community activism.

After graduating from Lisgar, Jill studied engineering, education and theology at McGill, Ottawa U., and what is now Tyndale Seminary in Toronto; she chose to be campus minister for Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship. We were married in 1996. Our home was often full of students; some even stayed with us or lived in the apartment upstairs. Those early days included camping, cottages, parties, summer festivals, winter fun – including freezing on Parliament Hill for the Y2K debacle! Jill sang and played guitar and flute – there was lots of music.

Our three beautiful kids came along this millennium, and things slowed down a bit. Jill was an amazing mother: dedicated, creative, fun, capable. I admired her thoughtfulness, compassion, artistry and grace in handling the challenges of parenthood. Our backyard was a year-round extension of our house: badminton and barbecues in the summer, skating rink in the winter. We planted veggies, harvested berries, picnicked and played there.

Jill’s cancer diagnosis in December 2013 rocked our world, especially that of our pre-teen kids. Yet she faced the deadly news with faith and hope, and she resolved to make the most of the years she had left. A few years ago, Jill found a new calling in life as a cancer survivor and research advocate. The positive, encouraging influence she had on many lives is hard to measure.

I will never forget the Saturday afternoon when I was driving home last November and had to pull over on Bank Street to let two ambulances go by, then the catch in my heart as I watched from Bank and Fifth and saw them turn down Morris Street. I parked the car at the apartment I’ve lived in for the last two years, following the heartbreak of our separation, and ran to our house, where several emergency vehicles idled outside. A number of our amazing neighbours had gathered, a few tears already being shed – how they loved and supported us over the years.

We watched you emerge from your home of nearly 40 years on a stretcher, a crowd of EMS personnel doing their best to save you, our precious kids, far too young for the years of pain they’ve endured, knowing in their hearts it was all over. I had just seen you the day before; and your last words to me were “thank you.” I’m grateful for that.

Although it’s hard to think of your death as anything other than untimely, I am grateful that it happened in Lung Cancer Awareness Month. It will help us always remember and always fight. But I will miss you desperately whenever November comes around.

In May, I plan to run the Ottawa Marathon in Jill’s memory, to raise funds for Lung Cancer Canada. The LCC donation page can be found on the Ottawa Race Weekend website.

Jono Hamer-Wilson, Glebe resident and Glebe Report area captain, was Jill’s husband.