CARROLL MAY ALLEN DALE

CARROLL MAY ALLEN DALE Lived life intensely. She was a keen observer of life and people, expressed in her award-winning and humour-filled writing. Born in Oxbow, Saskatchewan on May 24, 1927, daughter of Glen Allen and Harriet Schram Allen, Carroll grew up in the prairie railway station houses where her father was Stationmaster. The Great Depression shaped her values: the men who rode the rails looking for work were supported by the family and her father co-founded the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation along with seven others, including Tommy Douglas. These aspects of her early life formed her lifelong sense of social justice and fairness. She broke new ground for women in many ways, including as one of the first women members of the Toronto Press Club and as a Co-Founder of the Jean Tweed Centre. She read and edited fiction, essays and poetry manuscripts for Maclean's Magazine at an early age. She was a Journalist with the Toronto Telegram, the Toronto Star, the Globe & Mail and later as a Freelancer for a variety of publications, including for Chatelaine Magazine, Canadian Living and Homemakers Magazine. She was both Food Writer and Senior Editor for Recipes Only, editing and co-writing two cookbooks. She taught journalism at Ryerson Polytechnic (now University) - magazine writing was her specialty. She relished this stage of her career, mentoring countless budding journalists. She won several National Magazine Awards and garnered the respect of her peers across Canada. She died suddenly and peacefully just before her 89th birthday at 7 p.m. on April 5, 2016 at Christie Gardens surrounded by all her remaining family: her grandchildren Robyn Andrea Dale Ellis and Adrian Michael Dale Ellis, daughters Amanda Barbara Allen Dale and Lisa Carroll Allen Dale and their partners. Carroll's life was marked by a series of personal tragedies, including the youthful deaths of her two sons Matthew Martin Allen Dale and Jamie Frederick Allen Dale, the loss to breast cancer of her much-loved niece Gail Allen (Chambers) and the tragic loss of her adored nephew Glen Allen. Their brother, Carroll's nephew Gene Allen survives her. Carroll never stopped missing the brothers who died when she was a young woman - writer, editor and author Ralph Allen and Financier John Allen - and her parents, who died within a few years of each other while Carroll was a young mother. She lost her sister Barbara Kathleen Allen Leacy more recently, in 2012, at the age of 93, leaving Carroll the last of a generation of the storied Allen family. Despite decades of separation, Carroll chose to be interred with her late husband H. Frederick Dale, Toronto Star Garden Columnist and Author. The immediate family will mark her passing quietly and privately. Donations can be made in her honour to The Jean Tweed Centre or PEN Canada.