Member Update: Friday, Jan. 7, 2005

AUPE members mourn loss of Lieutenant-Governor Lois Hole

EDMONTON — Lois Hole, Alberta’s beloved Lieutenant Governor, has died, the Premier’s office announced today.

“ Mrs. Hole was loved and respected by AUPE’s members and we are deeply saddened by her loss,” said AUPE President Dan MacLennan this morning.

“We join people throughout the province in sending our condolences to Mrs. Hole’s family and her many friends.

“ Mrs. Hole was well known for her belief in and support for public education, public health care and public library services, and all of us who share those views are thankful for her advocacy over many years,” MacLennan said.

“ AUPE members will work hard to see that her legacy lives on.”
Mrs. Hole, who was 71, died in the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton Thursday.

She has been fighting cancer for two years.

In a statement announcing her death, Premier Ralph Klein said “there is probably no community in Alberta that hasn’t been touched by the grace of Mrs. Hole. Her passing leaves all Albertans with a deep sense of loss.”

(Click here to read the Premier’s statement.)

A well-known horticulturalist who along with her husband Ted owned and operated Holes Greenhouses in St. Albert, Mrs. Hole was also known as a philanthropist and advocate of education.

In its obituary today, the Globe and Mail newspaper described Mrs. Hole as friendly and characteristically cheerful, the author of six books on gardening.

“ It was … her personal warmth, fondness for children and penchant for dispensing hugs wherever she went than endeared her to Albertans,” the Globe reported.

The Edmonton Journal described Mrs. Hole in its obituary as “the Queen of Hugs.”

Mrs. Hole, appointed in December 1999 by then Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, was sworn into office in February 2000.

She soon sparked controversy when she said she planned to have a talk with the Premier before signing into law a government bill to expand the role of private companies in public health.

Mrs. Hole has served as a school trustee, a member of the Athabasca University Governing Council and as Chancellor of the University of Alberta.

In 1995, she was granted an honorary degree by Athabasca University.

Mrs. Hole was born in Buchanan, Sask. In 1933, and moved to Alberta in her early teens.