Dr. Marilyn Trenholme Counsell, a family physician who helped found the Sackville Food Bank and later served as New Brunswick’s lieutenant governor and a senator, has died at the age of 92.
Former Sackville and District Assistance Centre president Heather Patterson said Trenholme Counsell became concerned about poverty after going door to door while campaigning during the 1987 provincial election.
“She was always working for the community and always helping those who weren’t able to help themselves,” Patterson told CHMA. “So she got a group of people together and they started the food bank.”
The Sackville Food Bank said it shared in mourning the loss of one of its founding members, describing Trenholme Counsell as “a ground-breaker and leader” who worked at the grassroots while also influencing the halls of power.
“Her legacy lives on in the Sackville Food Bank, literacy programming, and many other causes which were near and dear to her heart,” the organization said in a statement posted to Facebook.
Literacy was among those causes.
While serving as lieutenant governor in 1998, Trenholme Counsell created the Lieutenant Governor’s Literacy Awards. The awards were later renamed in her honour and continue to be presented annually by the New Brunswick Literacy Coalition.
Susan Yarom, executive director of the coalition, said Trenholme Counsell remained involved with the organization until only a few months ago.
“She always, always made time for us,” Yarom told CHMA. “If you needed advice from her, she was there. If I called her, she would answer.”
Trenholme Counsell was born in Baie Verte in 1933 and first came to Sackville as a student at Mount Allison University. She later returned to southeastern New Brunswick and opened medical practices in Sackville and Port Elgin.
She was elected the Liberal MLA for Tantramar in 1987 and later served as New Brunswick’s minister of state for the family, lieutenant governor and a senator.
Even after retiring from public office, she continued working on literacy and early childhood initiatives, including the provincewide Born to Read program, which provides books and information to encourage parents to read with their children from birth.
Patterson said Trenholme Counsell remained engaged in community issues for much of her life.
Yarom said helping people was at the centre of everything Trenholme Counsell did.
“She dedicated her time to helping people. She cared deeply about the people of New Brunswick,” she said.
