Janet SORBIE

JANET SORBIE (née Wynne-Edwards) February 15, 1931, Montreal, Québec August 22, 2023, Kingston, Ontario Peacefully, with her daughters at her side, in her 93rd year. Loving mother of Pamela (James Stone), Alison (Christopher Dunkley) and Valerie (Peter Czegledy); and grandmother of (Jacqueline (Devin Lemmex), Christopher and Andrew Stone, Rosalyn and Owen Dunkley, and Alexander, Nicholas and Natasha Czegledy. Janet was born in Montreal to Jeannie and Vero Wynne-Edwards, adventurous English parents who met at Oxford while studying Zoology in the 1920s. Along with her brother, Hugh (1934-2013), they came to McGill, where Mum spent her childhood exploring the Laurentians and becoming an especially graceful skier. She excelled academically, athletically and in leadership as Head Girl of the High School of Montreal. She also attended art classes at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, where she nurtured her passion for the natural world. Returning to Britain in 1946, the family resumed their academic and outdoor pursuits in Aberdeen and the Cairngorm Mountains. Despite being inclined toward fine arts, she was persuaded to pursue medicine at Aberdeen University, where she became president of the women's student union. During her medical residency at Great Western Infirmary in Glasgow, she met Charlie Sorbie, a charming surgical resident and future Orthopaedic Surgeon, who became the love of her life. They were soon married in April 1957, and had three daughters in Scotland before moving to Kingston in 1965. Mum continued her education at Queen's, obtaining her MSc in 1969 and was granted a Doctorate from Aberdeen University in 1975, all while lovingly raising the three of us. She joined the Department of Family Medicine at Queen's in 1977, having refreshed her skills with a rigorous residency, a time in which we all learned to cook! An experienced researcher and well published, Mum brought her leadership to the Department, becoming Head of Family Medicine in 1986. She was known to be a superb and compassionate family physician and a wise and caring Head of Department, and was also instrumental in expanding postgraduate training of Family Medicine in Ontario's medical schools and Northern Programs. She combined all of this with being the most loving and supportive life partner, mother, daughter, aunt, friend, and an exceptional role model to us and so many others. After retiring in 1996, she returned to her early creative pursuits, spending the next fifteen years painting, meeting new friends, and giving full reign to her innate love of art. Above and beyond her significant contributions, our parents built and enjoyed a beautiful and full life together, including our serene cottage on a small lake north of Kingston, travelling to over 70 countries, gathering with their grandchildren each summer on Martha's Vineyard and reveling in the lifelong company of an extraordinary circle of friends. They remained very happily married for 54 years, until Dad's sudden passing from a ski accident in March 2010. While Mum's short-term memory faded over the last decade, her grace, kindness, affection and love of music, poetry and literature endured to the final days of a life well lived. We are deeply grateful for the love and support Mum received from the remarkable and caring staff at Briargate, the Queen's Palliative Care Team and earlier at St. Lawrence Place. She couldn't have been in better hands. A private family interment will take place, followed by a celebration of life at a later date. Pamela, Alison, Valerie Arrangements Entrusted to the Robert J. Reid & Sons Funeral Home. Online book of condolences at: www.ReidFuneralHome.com