URS: November 17, 2017
Dear Friends — With a heart full of sadness and gratitude for the blessing of
her life, I send to you the news that my wife Chloe Majida O’Loughlin passed
from this world last Friday, Nov. 17. She had been diagnosed in late September
with a cancer which must have been present for several years without a sign,
and then took her life in eight weeks after diagnosis.
Many of you will remember Majida for her heartfelt violin playing at Sufi
events and retreats, accompanying me in the zikrs and the song settings of
Murshid’s words that she loved so deeply. If you met her, you will also
remember her many lovely qualities of endless kindness, humour, curiosity, and
service.
For the 26 years we had together, Majida served the Message through
hosting weekly classes in our home and through her support of establishing a
musical tradition without our Order. She created the 99 Names Study Cards
after training in Arabic and immersing herself in the Divine Names. Behind the
scenes, her esteemed skills in organizational management were drawn on by the
Board of our Order and several Executive Directors, at least one of whom
considered her to be a mentor.
In life outside of the Inayati Order, Majida was a well known activist in the Conversation movement and had a big part in saving huge tracts of our beautiful wilderness.
All of this and more can be found in my Facebook profile:
http://www.facebook.com?/amir?.oloughlin where you can read more
about Chloe Majida and follow the project that perhaps she is conducting from the next place:
Forty Days, Forty Poems, Forty Photos. She was a very accomplished
photographer, and the poems are ones I wrote after her diagnosis and continue
to write for my own processing of this staggering transition in our lives. The
music will never be the same without her, and I ask for your love and prayers
for her journey as well as mine.
much love & blessings to all —
VANCOUVER — On November 17, 2017, CPAWS and the environmental community lost Chloe O’Loughlin, a powerful advocate for wilderness conservation, and former CPAWS-BC staff member, volunteer, advocate and friend. She passed away on the weekend after fighting a battle with an aggressive cancer, which was only diagnosed in September. In a testament to her strength, Chloe was unknowingly battling cancer for many years while never scaling down her fight for the places she loved, like the South Okanagan-Similkameen. She will be very missed by the people she worked with and the places she fought to protect.
Chloe joined CPAWS-BC in 2003. In the words of Bob Peart, the outgoing Executive Director at the time, “She impressed me in the interview process for her sincere interest in working in the conservation world and ‘transferring’ her skills to CPAWS and the NGO world. I remember her saying that she had one good job left in her and that was at CPAWS working in conversation.” She continued to work with CPAWS until 2012, but stayed on as a volunteer, working relentlessly on creating the South Okanagan-Similkameen National Park Reserve. “It was her determination that kept this file active,” remembers Bob. “Chloe was a classic example about the difference that one caring committed individual can make, and that provides me hope. Chloe can go to the grave with a smile on her face.”
In her 9 years with CPAWS, Chloe led the organization through many victories. Some of her legacy includes:
2006: Launching SeaChoice, Canada’s most comprehensive sustainable seafood program, in partnership with four other organizations.
2008: Establishing the Sgaan Kinghlas Bowie Seamount Marine Protected Area which protects the rich and unique biodiversity of offshore submarine volcanoes.
2010: Obtaining a signed a memorandum of understanding by the B.C. government and Montana government to ban mining in the Flathead Valley.
2011: Launching the Get Outside BC program, a project aimed at strengthening youth attachment to British Columbia’s wilderness,
2011: Working with the Taku River Tlingit and the B.C. government to support the signing of a land-use plan that allows for 13 new protected areas totaling over 500,000 hectares (1.3 million acres).
2012: Supporting the Premier and Dave Porter, Grand Chief of the Kaska Nation, to announce the creation of a new provincial conservancy, Ne’ah’, and special management area, ‘Gu Cha Duga Zone’. Gu Cha Duga means “for the grandchildren” in a Kaska Dene dialect. The protected area and special management area total 600,000 hectares.
“Chloe taught us all to never let go of a vision,” said Bruce Passmore, the Executive Director of CPAWS-BC. “She will be missed by many. We will toast to her memory when the South Okanagan Similikameen National Park Reserve becomes a reality. May she rest knowing that her legacy will continue.”
There will be a Celebration of Life on December 8, 2017 at 3 pm at the Canadian Memorial United Church in Vancouver, 1825 W 16th Ave, Vancouver, BC V6J 2M4 (the church entrance is on 15th Ave.). There will be an hour long Celebration followed by a reception in the Great Hall across the alley at the Canadian Memorial Centre.