Lawyer.
Born at Russell on 14 September 1953, only child of Margaret Annie Witty and Roy Hassett (1902-1995), she was educated at the Russell High School then attended the University of Manitoba, graduating in 1976 with a law degree. She articled in law with Greg Brodsky and Harry Walsh in the firm Walsh Micay, and was called to the Manitoba Bar in June 1977.
She practiced law with Walsh Micay until joining the City of Winnipeg as Senior Solicitor. In 1995, she was appointed City Solicitor, the first woman to hold this position. She served under Mayors Susan Thompson, Glen Murray, and Sam Katz. She critiqued and re-worked “The City of Winnipeg Act, 1972” to become “The City of Winnipeg Charter” in 2003. She also streamlined city by-laws from over 100 to less than 40, emphasizing health and safety. She retired from this position in 2008.
From 2008 to 2011, she was the Regional Vice-President (Manitoba) of The Nature Conservancy, where she facilitated the Inglis Area Farmer Preserves project and participated in the Poweshiek Skipperling Workshop. From 2011 to 2018, she practiced criminal law with Brodsky and Company and was Counsel for two witnesses at the Commission of Inquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding the Death of Phoenix Sinclair. She was a member of the Board of Governors for Balmoral Hall (1989-1990, 1991-1992) and a member of the Manitoba Orienteering Association (early 2000s-2020).
Diagnosed with colon cancer in 2017, she was forced to retire in 2018, and succumbed to the illness at her home in Winnipeg on 11 September 2020. She was survived by two daughters and a son.
“Inglis-area farmer preserves land in its natural state,” Manitoba Co-operator, 22 September 2011.
Minutes from the Poweshiek Skipperling Workshop, 24-25 March 2011, Winnipeg, Manitoba, edited by J. Dupont.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 19 September 2020.
Obituary, Ethical Death Care.
We thank Diane Papst, Leonard Stijack, and Harold Dick for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Patricia Graupner.
Page revised: 10 February 2022
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