Donna Speigel is being remembered as a woman of firsts: she organized the first breast examination clinic; she was part of the core group that created palliative care in Sudbury and was part of the group that fought for a cancer centre in northeastern Ontario to be located in Sudbury.
Speigel passed away Aug. 1 in her 78th year.
Born to Kaye and Sam Cooper in Toronto in 1943, Donna Helene Cooper graduated with an MA in Child Studies from the University of Toronto. It was there she met her future husband, Mitch Speigel.
“They were married and moved to Sudbury in 1966,” Speigel’s obit reads. “She loved Sudbury as much as her husband and spent the rest of her life building community with a wide group of friends, participating in numerous volunteer activities over the years.”
As mentioned earlier, Speigel’s volunteer work saw her organize the first breast examination clinic in Sudbury, her obituary states, and played a key role in bringing palliative care to Sudbury. and was part of the group that advocated for and created the Cancer Centre in Sudbury.
While raising a family and volunteering, Speigel earned a second MA in child psychology and worked as a psychometrist with the Sudbury Catholic School Board, going on to work with children all over the province and with First Nations communities from Cornwall to Moosonee.
Speigel was also an entrepreneur, becoming a partner in Watch It Timepieces and a member of the board of directors of the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce.
Speigel’s professional and volunteer efforts earned her the Sudbury Business and Professional Women’s Association Woman of the Year award and a Lieutenant Governor’s award for exceptional community service.
When she wasn’t working or volunteering, Speigel could often be found with a paddle in her hand. An avid rower, she was a member of the Sudbury Rowing Club and introduced distance touring to the Sudbury club, participating in many rowing tours worldwide.
In 2012, she organized a successful FISA tour of 60 international rowers in the Sudbury area. “Her leadership was so central to the success of this adventure they named a boat for her. She continued to get up at ridiculous hours in the morning to row until this year,” the obituary reads.
As she worked, volunteered and raised a family, however, the spectre of cancer hung over Speigel and her loved ones.
She was first diagnosed with the disease in 1974. She successfully fought off cancer seven times.
“She ... stared it down time and again. The eighth encounter was different,” her obituary states. “This time it was too much and she knew her time had come. She chose to end her life with her loving family at her side.”
Speigel behind her husband of 55 years, Mitch Speigel; daughters Lisa Speigel (Andrew Biro), Dara Speigel (Iain Landon), son Jeremy Speigel (Emily Wilkins); brother, Neil Cooper (Elizabeth), and; six grandchildren, Kaela Biro, Nathan Biro, Noah Speigel, Sally Speigel, Sam Landon and Sadie Landon.
“Donna did not live on borrowed time -- she lived on joyous time experiencing life to the fullest and watching her grandchildren take their place in this world.”
The family asks that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Northern Cancer Foundation.
Funeral arrangements entrusted to the Jackson & Barnard Funeral Home.
