A Tribute to Cathleen Kneen

Every once in a while a person comes into your life and the experience of knowing them has a lasting impact on you. My Aunt Cathleen was such a person. I remember as a child traveling to Canada for her wedding. She was so beautiful and I just loved being in her presence. Both she and my Uncle Brewster were passionate about life and their beliefs and have always fought to make the world a better place.

Sunday my Aunt Cathleen lost her battle with pancreatic cancer. She died at home surrounded by those she loved.

I remember spending a summer with my aunt and uncle on their large farm in Nova Scotia as a young teenager. I loved my time on the farm, it was hard work as everyday there was something to be done whether it was weeding the garden or harvesting hay. The food we ate was produced on the land and the dishes we ate off of were creations of Cathleen’s. She was so gifted at pottery, creating beautiful pieces of work that were so delicate. I was intrigued by the full pantry off of their kitchen and was determined that I would grow up and have such a pantry. I loved the fact that nothing was wasted, food scraps going either to the chickens, the pigs or the compost. I believe it was that summer spent on the farm that led me to live the life I am living today, growing and preserving our food as much as I can. Years later when it was just my aunt and uncle living in the city of Ottawa she was still canning and preserving food from their small garden.Cathleen was a strong woman and was not one to sit by the sidelines. Even when she and my uncle came to visit my mom we would all end up in the kitchen creating a delicious meal to be enjoyed by all.

I am so thankful to have had Cathleen in my life and the wonderful memories I have of her will live on forever. As my sister said so eloquently, “She was lovely in every way and she leaves a big hole. (A Cathleen-shaped hole, someone said. How perfect.)”Cathleen (née Rosenberg) Kneen passed away peacefully at home in Ottawa on February 21st, 2016, aged 72 after a struggle with pancreatic cancer. She is survived by her beloved life and work partner of 53 years, Brewster Kneen, children Jamie Kneen (Soha) and Rebecca Kneen (Brian McIsaac), grandson Theodore, sister Jeannie Rosenberg and many colleagues and friends across the country and around the world.

Cathleen attended university at Edinburgh, Memorial, and Carleton, meeting Brewster through her activism in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and soon marrying him, in 1964. Cathleen’s activism wove together common themes of healthy communities and people. Her early years in the peace movement in Toronto shifted to women’s liberation, as a founding member of the Pictou County Women’s Centre in Nova Scotia – and after moving back to Toronto, as Executive Director of the Toronto Assaulted Women’s Help Line. During her fifteen years in Nova Scotia, she also developed her admirable skills as a potter, ran a successful sheep farm with her family, organized the Sheep Producers of Nova Scotia’s annual sheep fair, and for many years, contributed a weekly Farm Diary to the local noon program on CBC Radio.

When the Kneens moved to BC in 1995, Cathleen began to integrate her commitment to social justice with her farm background. She was instrumental in founding the Mission City Farmers’ Market, the Sorrento Village Farmers’ Market, and the BC Food Systems Network and served on the board of the Certified Organic Associations of BC. Upon her return to Ontario in 2006, Cathleen was elected Chair of the newly formed Food Secure Canada, served on the management team of the People’s Food Policy Project and was chair of Just Food Ottawa and the Ottawa Food Policy Council.

For 25 years, Cathleen worked alongside Brewster as editor, co-writer, illustrator and designer of The Ram’s Horn newsletter, which had a worldwide following, as well as editing his books. Whatever she involved herself in, Cathleen committed herself fully, applying her considerable energy to building a participatory, feminist path for people to connect and make positive change together to bring about the vision of a just and peaceful world she held so clearly. The work of her hands will be held by many on a daily basis, in the pottery she made.

There will be a visitation on Friday, February 26, from 2-4pm, at the Ottawa Funeral Co-operative, 419 St. Laurent Blvd., bus route #7. There will be other celebrations all over the country throughout the spring as well. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Inter Pares, the BC Food Systems Network, the National Farmers Union, and/or MiningWatch Canada/the Canary Research Institute on Mining, Environment, and Health.

As her friend Hannah Renglich said, “Cathleen was a fierce protector of seeds, lands, waters, animals, vegetables, minerals; spirited convener of people near and far for protection of human rights and promotion of the public good; incredible activist, community organizer, and raging granny; peaceful warrior of the Canadian food movement from coast to coast to coast; wonderful, encouraging, and inspiring friend. We are so lucky to have known her, and carry on her powerful legacy in her honor, name, and spirit. We will be and be better, for her existence.”I couldn’t agree more.