John Hillian, Victoria

I want to first express my condolences to Sarah and Pat on Marnie’s passing. But the person who should be here where I am right now is my wife Deirdre Kelly, who passed away 7 years ago because she would have had a lot to say about Marnie. And she would have spoken with the insight that only a close friend who had shared many battles, triumphs, and moments together could have. And because of that close association that spanned 30 plus years I considered Marnie a close friend too, and so I also feel the loss of her passing.

So I will try and recount some instances that will show what an amazing person and friend Marnie was to Deirdre and our family.

So as many of you will know, Deirdre took over the Diocesan Social Justice Office Coordinator’s position after Dave Zolloscy left around 1991. But even before that she had been a contributor to the Island Catholic News and so was in close touch with Marnie and Pat on a weekly, if not daily basis at times. In Deirdre’s role in the social justice office, she was the activist trying to get the word out to whoever would listen about what was going on mostly in Central America, but also with refugees who were at that time streaming into Victoria from many parts of the world.

With Bishop DeRoo’s blessing and encouragement the mid ‘80s to mid ‘90’s was a kind of golden age of activism, with the church playing a leading role in many places. But in order to do that activism, and have the wherewithal to use her voice, Deirdre had to have a small number of key people who supported her work and her thinking, and in fact who helped form her thinking and her activism, and Marnie was one of those key people. And so it was thanks to Marnie and Pat that Deirdre was given a lot of space in the paper to write about important events that were taking place especially in Guatemala and Chiapas, Mexico after her trips there in the 1990s. And then later she brought to light the damning revelations about the extent of the U.S. Army School of the Americas insidious role in the massacres and destabilization of most of the countries of South and Central America.

She even got arrested in Fort Benning, Georgia, after crossing the line onto the military base to protest along with thousands of others. And she was questioned about the small bottle of liquid that she was observed emptying out at the bottom of the sign that read, ‘Welcome to Fort Benning’. She assured the military police that it was simply a prayerful peace offering that contained Holy water from St. Bridget’s well in Ireland, a place of miracles. Of course the bottle was given to her by Marnie who had brought it from Ireland for just such a purpose. And with her ICN Press pass, also given to her by Marnie, Deirdre was able to interview Al Gore, Martin Sheen, Bruce Cockburn and others, and write about it later on in the ICN and other publications.

Then, after Deirdre’s unceremonious dismissal during the time of Bishop Gagnon, without even being given the dignity of de-briefing her successor after 20 years as social justice coordinator, it was Marnie and Pat who joined together with other friends in solidarity at the CUPE union office for an impromptu gathering of support, friendship, and affirmation.

And Marnie was there when Deirdre began her life after the diocese as a painter, attempting a second career as an artist. Marnie’s knowledge of art and artists, from the bohemians of the 1920s and ‘30’s to the counter-culture movement of the ‘60s and beyond was often sprinkled in their conversations.

In my memory, Deirdre’s painting “View from Anne Frank’s Window” which she had painted from a photograph that she had taken when she was visiting the historic house in Amsterdam, was either painted with Marnie in mind, gifted to her, or purchased by Marnie at one of the Fernwood Art Stroll events – symbolic since Marnie’s, at that time, recent embrace of the Jewish faith. And on that note, I am confident that both Marnie and Deirdre would have shared the outrage at Biden’s unlimited sale and export of bombs wrought on the civilian population of Gaza, the lies and inhumanity of Netanyahu and his cabinet, as well as Hamas’s culpability in the whole mess, at least in the past eight months.

As an editor, Marnie’s role was to be in the background, but as a friend she was very much in the foreground. We knew where she stood, and she was always clear, kind, compassionate, and concerned about people, with positive hopes of what the future would hold for those close to her, and for the world. That was her strong and forward thinking sense of justice.

And finally, thanks to Marnie and Pat I met Louise Beinhauer who helped me produce two small publications highlighting Deirdre’s art.

The second one is being printed now, and will be available at the this year’s Fernwood Art Stroll studio tour on June 8th and 9th.

I wish I had seen Marnie before she got so sick, and I’d love for her to have seen the new book of Deirdre’s art since she was so present in Deirdre’s and my lives both in and out of the diocesan years.

Marnie Butler – Presente.