JEAN MARGARET HOLLINGWORTH

1946 - 2025

Jean Margaret Hollingworth (née Berwick) (November 17, 1946 - February 20, 2025) Jean always said that she could never believe in reincarnation because there was no chance she could get this lucky again. Growing up in Montreal, she had an idyllic childhood with weekends and summers spent in the Laurentians. She always loved sports and was a certifiable bookworm from an early age. Attending Bishop's University was a fortuitous choice; it was the perfect small liberal arts university to foster a love of learning. While still an undergraduate, another stroke of luck was meeting Alan on a blind date; he seemed very sophisticated as he owned a car and was at law school in Toronto. After graduating and attending a summer education course, and with more bravado than brain, Jean accepted a job teaching high school in a small rural town. This involved a steep learning curve, as Jean was 20 and some of her students were 18, a shaky start to her years of teaching. When Alan and Jean got married in 1969 and settled in Toronto, it was the first time that they had both lived in the same city. In 1974, they made the decision to move to Calgary, which turned out to be an excellent choice for Alan's career and a wonderful place to bring up a family. Alison was born in 1975 and Grant in 1978. For Jean, it was always about people. So, for 27 years, the cabin in Canmore was always the gathering place for friends, family and celebrations. While Alan was pursuing his legal career, Jean threw herself into numerous community volunteer activities, with a long-term commitment to helping adults with literacy challenges. During the Calgary years and after, Jean and Alan enjoyed numerous trips to different countries, many of which involved hiking. A memorable 60th birthday trip was to Tanzania to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. Annual ski trips to backcountry lodges with friends were another highlight of those Calgary years. And then, another fortuitous decision was to move to Victoria in 2011. This led to 14 years of new opportunities, wonderful new friends, community involvement and the chance for Jean to create a garden, which was an unanticipated pleasure. Unfortunately, the one unlucky thing was a sudden diagnosis of cancer. Jean leaves her loving husband of 55 years, Alan; her two children, Alison (Ryan) and Grant (Andrea); her four darling grandchildren, Amelie, Elliot, Cameron and Sloane; her two brothers, Jim Berwick (Margaret) and Hugh Berwick (Jill d.); her sister-in-law, Jill Lewis; and brother-in law, Tom Lewis; as well as her many friends. A Celebration of Life will be held in the Sequoia Centre at McCall Gardens, 4665 Falaise Drive, Victoria, on Friday, May 2, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. There will be a reception at a later date in Calgary. In lieu of flowers, donations, if desired, may be made to the Victoria Symphony Society or Decoda Literacy Solutions (Vancouver). And did you get what you wanted from this life, even so? I did. And what did you want? To call myself beloved, to feel myself beloved on the earth. - Raymond Carver Condolences may be offered to the family at www.mccallgardens.com.