After a short but courageous battle with pancreatic cancer, OPSEU activist and aboriginal leader Tim Brown passed away in his sleep on Sunday April 25 at age 61, leaving to mourn his mother Leona, beloved wife Cindy, son Andy (Cindy), granddaughter McKenzie, brothers Brian and Dwight, and nephews Craig and Cory Dean. He was predeceased in 1998 by his father Robert.

“OPSEU has lost one of its truly inspirational leaders,” said president Warren (Smokey) Thomas. “We extend our sincere condolences to his entire family knowing that they – indeed, all of us – have lost a giant of man with a heart to match.”

President Thomas paid tribute to Brother Tim’s pioneering role as one of the first aboriginal members of OPSEU to demand that the voice of Canada’s First Nations be heard in the corridors of organized labour.

“We learned an enormous lesson from Brother Tim,” said president Thomas. “It was this: no longer will Canada’s First Nations people be satisfied with occupying a secondary role in our society nor, for that matter, in organized labour.  In OPSEU, his was the articulate and wise voice of our native members, their customs and traditions and the communities they represent.”

Tim Brown, a child and youth counselor at Vanier Children’s Services in London and a member of Local 144, was the long-time chair of OPSEU’s Aboriginal Circle equity group, and also served as vice president for Aboriginal Peoples with the Ontario Federation of Labour.

“Even while dealing with the challenges of failing health, Tim made major contributions to his community and the labour movement. His loss is a deep blow to all of us,” said OFL president Sid Ryan.

Brother Brown took tremendous pride in his aboriginal ancestry. He was a Tradition Teacher on the Six Nations of Grand River – the native reserve on which he was born – and Eagle Feather Carrier, a position of leadership and respect in the First Nations community.

Born in 1949, much of Tim’s early life followed the pattern of families in the military. His father was an officer in the Canadian Armed Forces and the family moved frequently. As an “army brat,” as he was fond of calling himself, he attended 27 different schools on three continents as the family moved from posting-to-posting.

A promising football player, Tim was awarded a football scholarship to collegiate powerhouse Ohio State University, where he played under legendary coach Woody Hayes in his freshman year. His university career was cut short when he severely damaged his leg in a horrific automobile accident after his first season and he never again returned to the gridiron.

The accident left him in hospital for nine months, followed by a year of physiotherapy.

He returned to Canada where he enrolled in the visual arts program at Carleton University in Ottawa, working at a steel assembly plant to pay his way. He left Ottawa and began studies in Eastern philosophy with the intention of eventually becoming an ordained minister.

The turning point in his life came when he met a man who worked with troubled youth and from that moment Tim believed he had found his true calling in life. In 1978 he began working with children with emotional problems, first in a group home and, three years later, in an agency organized under OPSEU.

Tim arrived at Vanier Children’s Services in London in September, 1981, where he worked in short-term contracts until he was hired as a fulltime Child & Youth Counsellor – Residential Specialization, in May, 1982.  Although most of his career was within the residential programs he also worked within the On Campus School program. Tim also was in the Residential Float position for 2 years – a senior CYC position where he had administrative responsibilities related to scheduling and serious occurrences.

“Tim was a gentle and calm team member whose nurturing style was a model for his colleagues, the children he worked with, and their parents. Kids loved Tim...and Tim loved the kids that he worked with,” said Nancy Miller, director of Intensive Services at Vanier.

“When he began to explore his native heritage, he shared his learnings within Vanier – through healing circles and through professional education events to support us in learning about native culture, values, and beliefs. He connected with all children, not just aboriginal children, and taught them about native culture and beliefs. He truly tried to help us to do a better job in our work with aboriginal children and their families.  He also took his knowledge and beliefs into the community and facilitated many educational workshops with other professionals and also with groups of children within community schools,” Miller said. 

After a brief first marriage, which produced his son Andy, he married the love of his life, Cindy, who forever was known by Tim as “Cinder – his wife, partner, friend and lover,” according to a short auto-biography Tim wrote several years ago.

Brother Tim Brown was OPSEU’s “eyes and ears” on all matters of provincial aboriginal policy and met several times with political leaders at Queen’s Park. At a  February 2008 meeting with Premier Dalton McGuinty and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Michael Bryant to welcome the opening of the new Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, president Thomas and Brother Tim presented the premier and minister with a ‘talking stick,’ a six-foot carved totem used by native councils to encourage dialogue. The stick was provided by the Curve Lake First Nation.

Cremation has taken place. Family and friends will be received at the Westview Funeral Chapel, 709 Wonderland Road North, London, Ont., on Thursday Apr. 29, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. – 9 p.m. A Celebration of Life will be held on Friday Apr. 30 at 3 p.m. in the Chapel. Donations to the London Health Sciences Cancer Centre, would be appreciated by the family. Online condolences may be sent to: condolences@westviewfuneralchapel.com