VANCOUVER — Former Vancouver city councillor and longtime advocate for sports May Brown has died. She was 99.
Tributes for May, who devoted much of her life to politics and improving conditions for athletes, began pouring in Saturday on social media from fellow politicians and friends.
Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart described May as a force in civic life, while Vancouver-Granville MP Jody Wilson-Raybould said she was an incredible force of nature who dedicated her long life to public service.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered his condolences, saying Brown’s contribution to the community will not be forgotten.
Brown was elected to Vancouver councillor in 1977 and served for 10 years, following two terms as a park board commissioner. She also ran for mayor and was, according to former Postmedia city reporter Jeff Lee, “an absolutely formidable campaign organizer.”
She was a 2010 Olympic ambassador, a volunteer position appointed by Vanoc to promote the Games, and the first woman to be awarded the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame’s W.A.C. Bennett Award in 2012.
Born in Hardisty, Alta., Brown’s family moved to Surrey when she was seven where she loved to play basketball, according to research by Jason Beck, curator of the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame.
She studied physical education at Montreal’s McGill University and returned to Vancouver in 1947, where she landed a job as UBC’s first hired women’s field hockey coach, according to Beck, who notes the deplorable conditions of Vancouver’s playing fields prompted her to get into politics.
She taught P.E. at UBC from 1947 until 1955 and went on to earn her master of physical education in 1961, according to UBC, which says she “instilled a sense of team loyalty and accountability.”
Beck notes she was critical to the development of synchronized swimming in B.C., served on the National Advisory Council on Fitness and Amateur Sport that established the Canada Games, and created Sport Canada.
During her lengthy career, she was also bestowed with the Order of Canada and the Order of B.C.
In her honour, UBC created the May Brown Trophy for the graduating female athlete of the year. In 2000, Brown received a UBC Alumni Achievement Award, and was inducted into the UBC Sports Hall of Fame in 2007..
