Joan Burton.

Mother. Pioneer. Hiker.

JOAN (Weber) BURTON

Joan passed away peacefully on March 1st, 2014 at the Southlake Regional Health Centre (Newmarket, ON) following a one year struggle with cancer. She was 69. Beloved mother to Scott of Toronto and Jamie (Heidi) of Calgary. Grandma to Kyra, Emmitt, Halia.  Sister to Kathryn (Rob) Hettler of BC. Aunt to Jeremy, Paul (Ruth), Karina, and Steven (Loralie). She will also be greatly missed by special friends Russ, Pat, Carla and many others.

Born in Toronto to Norm and Gladys Weber, Joan and family moved to Calgary in 1950. She attended university in Edmonton, Vancouver and Toronto. Studied zoology, nursing, and adult education. Joan worked in Kitchener (infection control) and the Toronto area in workplace wellness (COSHA, IAPA). Because of her longterm commitment to healthy workplaces, she was awarded the prestigious Canadian Workplace Wellness Pioneer Award in 2003.  After retiring from IAPA, Joan continued to promote workplace wellness. She was lead author developing a global model for healthy workplaces for the World Health Organization, culminating in her presenting her vision at the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland and later in New Delhi, India.

Over the past decade, Joan enjoyed numerous hiking holidays abroad including Iceland, Italy, Tanzania, (climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro when 66!) and even New Zealand this past fall. She made many new friends through local hiking groups and was always thankful for the wonderful life she had.