SF Deputy Mayor Pat Barr – 1950-2021

Jeff Green | Oct 13, 2021

The sudden cancellation of a meeting of South Frontenac Council on Tuesday (October 5) was left without explanation until late in the week, when Mayor Ron Vandewal published an open letter announcing the death of Deputy Mayor Pat Barr

The letter reads, in part: “It is with great sadness that I share the news of Councillor Patricia ‘Pat’ Barr’s passing on Tuesday October 5, 2021. South Frontenac Council and staff have been shocked by this news and will miss her warm personality and thoughtful approach around the Council table.

“Born and raised in Bedford Township (now Bedford District, in the northern end of South Frontenac), Pat grew up in a politically savvy household, where her father was both a councillor and reeve prior to the amalgamation of Bedford Township with the newly formed Township of South Frontenac in 1998. After returning to her family home and community, she joined Council in 2013, with the promise of making life in South Frontenac better for her friends and neighbours. 

“Her degree in geography, education in agriculture, dedication to recreation and desire to preserve the community’s heritage prepared her to be an active voice on Council over the past 8 years. It goes without saying that her contributions to the community as a member of Council have been vast and impactful for the residents of Bedford district and the greater South Frontenac Community.”

Barr had been very ill in late 2020 into 2021 when she was hospitalised for four months with symptoms of both Lyme Disease and Anaplasmosis, which are both tick-borne diseases. Her stay in hospital included one month in a coma.

Lee Dillabough, her husband of 15 years, said that she felt the more information about the dangers posed by ticks, and how to respond to symptoms of Lyme and other conditions would help prevent conditions

She was in line to take on the Deputy Mayor role in South Frontenac for 2021, but because of her illness, Ray Leonard from Portland District, who was slated to be the Deputy Mayor in 2022, took on the role a year in advance.

“Pat made a remarkable recovery in the spring, and was able to return to Council, a job that she loved and took very seriously,” said Dillabough.

After her return, she was sworn is a Deputy Mayor in May of this year, and Council amended the term of the Deputy Mayor to permit her to remain in the role until May of 2022, when Ray Leonard would take over for the final few months of the current council term.

Her health continued to improve over the summer and into the fall, but took a sudden devastating turn during the first weekend of October, and her intestinal system, which had been most impacted early in the year, failed.

She passed early in the morning on October 5.

“Those who knew Councillor Barr know she was never without a story or a smile to share, and took pride in the work she did with the Township. She will be greatly missed by everyone in the municipal organization, not to mention the many members of the Community who had the privilege of being touched by her kindness,” said Ron Vandewal, “Thank you Councillor Pat Barr for everything you have done for South Frontenac and its residents. We will keep your spirit in our thoughts and actions as we continue striving to make this community a better place, just as you did for so many years.”

Before her retirement, Pat Barr worked for Loblaws, in Ottawa for a number of years, before returning to her home community of Burridge to care for her father when he became ill.

A keen traveler, she visited Hawaii and the Caribbean, and took at least 3 trips to Europe. In what turned out to be her final trip to Europe in 2017, she visited some of the battlefields of World War II where members of her family and fought, and visited the gravesite of a family member who died in combat during the war.

On Council, she was known for her dry wit and a tendency to speak her mind.

She will be keenly missed by her husband Lee, and members of the Barr family.

A the rescheduled Council meeting from October, which took place on Tuesday, October 12, a recognition of the role Pat Barr played on Council since 2013, and in Bedford District over many years.

Council will consider its options for a replacement Bedford representative to serve out the remaining 14 months of the current council term, later this month.

There was no third-place candidate in Bedford in 2018, as both Barr and Councillor Alan Revill were acclaimed, as they had also been in 2014. She finished 3rd in 2010 and was appointed to council in 2013 when the late Mark Tinlim, who had been elected in 2010, left the region.

Her father Carl served as Reeve of the former Bedford Township in the 1990’s.