In Memory of Ray Heard
Ray’s beloved daughter, Jennifer, died suddenly at 28. In her honour, her parents set up the Jennifer Heard Memorial Scholarship (info below). Ray wanted donations to be added to the scholarship in his memory.
About the Jennifer Heard Memorial Scholarship
Some of us look at things as they are and ask, Why? Jenn dreamed of things that never were and asked, Why not?
Her great passions were volunteering at Sick Kids and supporting politicians who want to improve our lives. She was an ardent protagonist for ending human trafficking. She mastered the Internet and was active on Facebook on women's issues. When Jenn saw street children begging downtown, she would point out that many of them were Indigenous. She showed enormous courage battling depression. At school and in university, she campaigned to banish the terms "handicapped" and "disabled," arguing that the proper term is "people with special needs."
Jenn's hero was Nelson Mandela, whom she met twice in Toronto. When she was introduced to him, he asked if she was related to Anthony Heard, who was arrested by the apartheid regime and lost his job as editor-in-chief of the Cape Times for daring to interview Oliver Tambo, president of the African National Congress. "Yes, Madiba, he's my uncle," 11-year-old Jenn answered. "Your uncle Tony is a very brave man," Mr. Mandela said. "But he's not nearly as brave as you," she replied. When Mr. Mandela was made an honorary citizen of Canada in 2001, Jenn raised serious money for his charity.
Jenn was a child of nature, a true pantheist. She surfed with dolphins and snorkelled with turtles in Kauai, Hawaii. She spent hours on beaches there helping to protect endangered Hawaiian monk seals. She was fearless skiing expert trails at Whistler, B.C., on small snowblades, and paddling her canoe through rapids near her family cottage at Bark Lake, Que., where you drink the lake water and have no electricity. We could never keep up with Jenn, in the water, or snow, just as we could never dream the impossible dream.
Jenn beat immeasurable odds, more than most people face in their lives. She overcame a life-threatening brain injury when she was 12 and had to spend a month in Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, most of it in a coma. To recover, she had to relearn her whole life, even her own name and the name of her tabby cat, Pepper. The doctors said she would have to go to a special institution for the mentally challenged. She proved them wrong. After two months, she went back to school at Branksome Hall and excelled. She earned a B.A. honors degree in political science and French at the University of Guelph.
To honour Jennifer, we are establishing the Jennifer Heard Memorial Scholarship at the University of Guelph, which will support the child of a first- or second-generation Canadian immigrant, with financial need, who is passionate about the challenges ahead to make a better Canada. We truly appreciate any support you can provide.
If you have any questions or wish to discuss your donation, please contact Alex Dawkins, Development Manager, College of Biological Science, at alex.dawkins@uoguelph.ca or 226-821-2599.