Sandra Hook
On May 17, Sandra Hook, died at the age of 57 following a battle with cancer. Born in Montreal, she had 12 siblings. For the past 20 years she was the Ontario organizer for Campaign Life Coalition working alongside the provincial president Mary Ellen Douglas.
Douglas told The Interim, “Sandra was a very private person, so when she was diagnosed with cancer four years ago, very few people knew of her suffering. She had numerable chemotherapy and radiation treatments but I never heard her complain. She would only say I can’t make the meeting.”
Douglas said Hook “was such an efficient CLC worker that I always knew if I asked her to do something or contact someone, it was done. I never checked because I knew she would have carried out what I asked.”
Hook assisted Douglas by organizing both the Ontario and national strategy meetings each year and organizing the riding contacts throughout the province.
CLC national president Jim Hughes said “Sandra had the ability to get the most effort out of CLC’s riding contacts using her considerable wit and occasional biting sarcasm.”
Hughes recalled that driving Hook home one time as she left my car I said “I love you kid,” and she responded “I love you too.” Hughes extrapolated: “I asked if there was anything I could do for her, she responded ‘Get me a new computer. This one is so old I think the disciples used it’.”
Hughes said Hook was not only a colleague but a family friend: “Sandra knew well my family, and she loved my grandsons. And the feeling was mutual.”
Hughes said Hook was not always pro-life, recalling her saying, “I started out pro-choice, until I educated myself on the issues.”
Hook is survived by her husband Bruce and her children Maddie and Charlie.
