Family, friends and colleagues came together Sunday to attend a church service, which paid tribute to Coun. and Deputy Mayor Pam McConnell, who passed away on Friday at the age of 71.
The service was held in the city’s east end at the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto, which is located on Simpson Avenue near Carlaw Avenue and Gerrard Street.
While McConnell’s constituents will remember her as a city councillor, McConnell’s daughter, Heather Ann McConnell, said she was the “rock” of the family.
“She was just Mom and she was just Nana and she loved all of those hats,” McConnell said.
“We all knew the important work that she did in this community but in her passing, we have seen that in a really new light.”
McConnell passed away on Friday after spending time in hospital battling a very serious lung illness.
McConnell has been a city councillor since 1994 and represented Ward 28 (Toronto Centre-Rosedale). Prior to being elected to council, she served as a school trustee for 12 years.
READ MORE: Pam McConnell, veteran Toronto city councillor, dies at 71
Near the end of the service, Rev. Brent Hawkes read one of the final emails he received from McConnell, in which she apologized for not being able to attend pride services because of her sickness.
“I just thought it was important to remind people who Pam is and reflect that back,” Hawkes said.
“It was her tenacity, her love for the city and her eternal optimism to keep at it and at it.”
Mayor John Tory and other city councillors attended the church service to pay their respects to the late councillor.
“Yesterday was a really tough day. Getting motivated to do things we need to do and it’s nice to be among friends and support her family,” said Coun. Sarah Doucette.
“She was that grandmother, that motherly image that would make some councillors realize that you have to be nice to each other.”
Colleagues say one of McConnell’s biggest legacies will be the work she did around poverty reduction in Toronto.
“She recognized the fact that there are a lot of people in a big city that struggle, and she spoke up for them all the time,” said Tory.
Coun. Kristyn Wong-Tam said fellow councillors will help keep her passion to watch out for the city’s most vulnerable.
“She was able to pull everyone from all sides of the political spectrum and she never held it personally,” said Wong-Tam.
“She felt that the work was far more important and it was not about the ego for her. She was extremely humble in the way she carried about her work and she was focused.”
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