The Sunshine Coast has lost one of its most active and committed former leaders with the passing of Peggy Connor, who died at the age of 86 last week at Totem Lodge.
In local government, Connor represented Halfmoon Bay on the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) board from 1980 to 1996 and was board chair from 1987 to 1996
Brett McGillivray, Roberts Creek director from 1982 to 1996, described Connor as the consummate director and a board chair who made things run smoothly."It was always good fun because she always had a wonderful sense of humour and was a chair who was always inclusive, so that if there were issues to deal with, she would involve the whole board," he said. "She didn't particularly like conflict, so she was really good at negotiating solutions to avoid conflict."
Looking back on their time on the board together, McGillivray said Connor deserves credit for saving Cliff Gilker Park and expanding the Sunshine Coast Golf and Country Club.
"Peggy is the one who ultimately went into discussion with the Ministry of Forests and, I don't know how she was able to do it, but she persuaded the Ministry to give up a couple blocks of Crown forest land to the north and west of Cliff Gilker," he said.
Other missions and events of note during Connor's tenure at the SCRD included overseeing the Halfmoon Bay official community plan, acquisition of land for what is now the Hillside Industrial Park, acquisition of Coopers Green Park in 1985, establishment of an economic development commission, acquisition of Katherine Lake Park in 1989, acquisition of Chaster House in 1991 and constant struggles to protect the Chapman Creek and Grey Creek watersheds from logging.
McGillivray said Connor was a hard worker for her constituents and the Sunshine Coast as a whole.
"Things we take for granted today, the board had to struggle with, and Peggy was a good leader in taking up those challenges," he said.
Connor moved to the Coast in 1956 and jumped into community service and motherhood with both feet shortly after. She held the distinction of being one of the founding members of the St. Mary's Hospital Auxiliary.
"She was one of the first ones. I think it was their first meeting when she found out she was pregnant with me," Connor's daughter Mary said.
Beyond that, Connor was an organizer and volunteer for the Halfmoon Bay Country Fair, a rate-payers organization and the Business and Professional Women's Club. She also wrote columns for the Coast News and Press and was later the president of the Sechelt Seniors' Activity Centre.
Despite the dozens of volunteer and political roles Connor took on, Mary described her mother as "an awesome mom for anything we needed."
"The SCRD has a deep appreciation for the many years Peggy dedicated to the organization and to the community," said current board chair Donna Shugar. "The esteem with which she was held by the board is evidenced by the nine years she served as chair - the longest term in SCRD history. Those who worked with Peggy remember her with fondness."
A celebration of Connor's life will be held Saturday at the Sechelt Indian Band hall at 2 p.m.
