A trailblazing Nickel City lawyer died Jan. 27 at the age of 90. Mary Weaver was the only woman lawyer in Sudbury until the early 1970s.
She was also the first female partner in a firm in Northern Ontario. She retired in 1995 from the firm Weaver Simmons LLP.
Weaver graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1950. She was appointed to the Queen’s Council in 1979. In 2012, she was the recipient of a prestigious award from the Law Society of Upper Canada.
The Lara Legge Award, named after the first woman elected a bencher of the Law Society, is presented annually to a female lawyer in Ontario who has exemplified leadership within the profession.
According to her obituary, Weaver was a licensed pilot and would fly herself to places such as Gore Bay and Chapleau for her work.
She was a dedicated community volunteer and sat on the Thorneloe University board of governors from 1983-87 and was the Thorneloe representative on the Laurentian University Council from 1991 to 1999.
Weaver was a member of the Silver Seven municipal watchdog group. For the Art Gallery of Sudbury, she was involved in its governance transition from the Laurentian University Museum and Art Gallery.
There will be no visitation or service. Donations to the Art Gallery of Sudbury would be greatly appreciated.
