Elizabeth Hillman

HILLMAN , OC, MD, LLD, FAAP, FRCP Elizabeth (née Sloman) Feb. 17, 1928 - Aug. 9, 2020 Passed peacefully away at the home of her daughter Dr. Alison Hillman, in Newfoundland. Her memory will be cherished by children Alison, Jamie (Joanne Scarlett), Don (Ruth Kipp), Alan, Elizabeth (Paul Coxworthy), grandchildren Adam Coxworthy and James Purvis, sister Toby Rainey and sister-in-law Elizabeth Waterston plus many nieces, nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews, friends and colleagues around the world. Predeceased by husband Donald, parents Cela and Fred and siblings Bill, Joan (Reid) and Margaret. A trailblazer, she became the first female president of the Medical Council of Canada in 1981. She and her husband were made Officers of the Order of Canada in 1994 for having “consistently used their talents and energy to improve the welfare of children throughout the world.” Born in Clinton, Ont., Liz spent her school years with her family in a railway car and mobile schoolhouse that was their home. Her parents taught their family along with the children of trappers, miners and railway workers as the school car moved through Northern Ontario. It would be Liz’s only schooling until she entered the University of Western Ontario. When she was eight years old, Liz told her father she was going to be a doctor. Liz completed her MD in 1951, and received postgraduate training at UWO, McGill, Great Ormond Street in London, Harvard and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. While interning in Boston in 1955, she married a fellow pediatrician from Montreal, Donald Hillman. She began her professional career in 1957 at McGill University as Director of the Ambulatory Department at the Montreal Children’s Hospital. Liz and Don worked as a formidable team for 51 years until Don’s death in 2006. They raised five children, often bringing them on assignments advancing pediatric medical education around the world. In 1969, the family headed to Africa where Liz and Don spent two years at the newly established medical school at the University of Nairobi in Kenya: the family returned for another two years from 1974-76. After 20 years on faculty at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, the Hillmans moved to St. John’s, Newfoundland, where Liz was professor of pediatrics at Memorial University and Director of Ambulatory Education at the Janeway Child Health Centre. For the next 30 years, based at Memorial, McMaster and the University of Ottawa, Liz and Don continued to work with the Canadian International Development Agency and other agencies on multiple projects in primary pediatric healthcare and medical education in East Africa, Malaysia, Pakistan, and elsewhere. During all these years, Liz’s anchor was the small cottage in the Laurentians where she spent happy summers with family and friends, and welcomed many students and colleagues. She loved cats and dogs, and could - and often did - read a book a day. She was an early enthusiast and devotee of e-mail, sending encouraging messages and vivid descriptions of the world she took such joy in sharing. The list of her awards is lengthy, well known and well deserved, but her message to the legion of students and doctors she mentored was a simple one: “Nothing ever turns out as you expect, and you must enjoy every minute together.” She had that same message for her Newfoundland and Labrador friends, and lived it as well, with Brian Walsh, Alwynne Furlong, Madonna O’Keefe, Tony Guest, Craig Diamond, Brenda Beresford, Joanna Skillen and Mona Simms - and more. Liz Hillman devoted her life to promoting the health and well-being of children, inspiring others to do the same. She battled Nestlé in the 1970s when the corporation was promoting infant formula over breastfeeding in developing countries. This campaign led to hearings in the Senate and at the World Health Organization, resulting in a new set of marketing rules. In honour of her late husband, Liz Hillman established the Hillman Medical Education Fund to support health education and to foster future leaders in medicine, particularly in East Africa. Donations in memory of Liz Hillman may be made to https://www.rosecharities.ca/category/hillman-fund On her last day, a day she would have described as “soft,” Liz was still smiling, the windows open, as loons called in the distance. Somewhere, there are blueberries to be picked. Condolences are available at http://www.carnells.com