A trail-blazing reporter, a dedicated coroner, an avid ornithologist, a Girl Guide leader, and a lover of cats and horses, “McTick” died in Victoria Hospice on December 29 from complications due to thyroid cancer, with close friends by her side. She was 68.
Barbara Jean McLintock was born in Regina, grew up in the Winnipeg suburb of Fort Garry, earned a degree in psychology at the University of Winnipeg, and headed west the day after her graduation.
At age 22, she got a job covering the BC legislature for the Province newspaper, and two years later, was acclaimed as both the youngest-ever, and the first woman, to be President of the Press Gallery. She was promoted to Victoria Bureau Chief in 1974, and three years later, was lured away to become editor of the Victoria Times.
When the Times and the Daily Colonist merged, Barb moved east to work in the Southam News Bureau in Ottawa before being hired back by The Province as Victoria Bureau Chief in 1982 — a position which she held until her retirement due to corporate down-sizing in 2003.
While a reporter, Barb wrote two books: “Anorexia’s Fallen Angel: The Untold Story of Peggy Claude-Pierre and the Controversial Montreux Clinic”, and “Smoke-Free”, which detailed how Victoria became the first city in Canada to effectively ban smoking in indoor public places.
Within months of retiring, Barb was hired as the first Legislative reporter for TheTyee.ca, and also did some freelance work, including fill-in talk show hosting on C-FAX 1070 Radio.
Barb became a part-time Community Coroner in 2004, a full-time Coroner in 2006, and then in 2011, became spokesperson for the BC Coroners Service, a position which she held until her retirement from full-time in 2017.
You can read much more about her legendary and award-winning exploits in superb articles by Tom Hawthorn for TheTyee.ca, by Richard Watts at TimesColonist.com, and by Mike Smyth in TheProvince.com, among others.
In her spare time, Barb was an avid birder, a Girl Guide leader, a member of the Getting’ Higher Choir, a collector of juvenile horse fiction, a lover of cats and horses, and a dedicated dressage rider.
In 2002, Barb was named an Honourary Citizen by the City of Victoria, for her extensive volunteer work with groups including the Boys and Girls Club and the CRD Traffic Safety Commission. In 2004, the Victoria YM/YWCA named her a “Woman of Distinction”.
Special thanks to Victoria Hospice staff and volunteers for their care and compassion during Barb’s short time there.
A Public “Celebration of Life” for Barb McLintock will be held at 2:00 pm on Tuesday, January 15, 2019 in the Sequoia Centre at McCall Gardens, 4665 Falaise Drive, Victoria, BC V8Y 1B4.
In lieu of flowers, donations would be gratefully accepted by Broken Promises Animal Rescue (BrokenPromisesRescue.com, 2834 Sooke Road, Victoria, BC V9B 4J9) and/or by Victoria Hospice (VictoriaHospice.org).
Memories of Barb can be shared below.
McCall Gardens
www.mccallgardens.com
15 Responses
Barbara McLintock was a wonderful convenor of the Saanich Fair’s department 11A “Looking Back in Time”. Barb’s passion for community history was evident by encouraging the public to include Saanich Peninsula farm and agricultural details to their artifacts, adding meaning and interest to fairgoers. During the fair Barb’s discussions with public often added names and locations to old photos, adding value to the owner’s entry. We miss you Barb and appreciate your contribution to Saanich Fair.
Barbara was an ink stained young and brilliant reporter when I first encountered her in courthouse halls. Oh yes, she could write. Her brilliance and intuition provided often missed, intriguing insights into what, reported by others would be no more than another fairly tedious story about a trial. What made me want to be first in line to hang with her during these trials had nothing to do with that. She was interesting, fun loving, well read and kind. I always walked away with a lighter step and a wry smile having feasted on her wry and dry humour. What a great gal. If there is a heaven, she’s there, asking probing questions and laughing her head off. My condolences to the many who loved her. Dennis Murray
My husband, Ken, and I were shocked and saddened to hear of the sudden passing of our dear friend, Barb. Barb and I were close friends, beginning on my first day in Grade 2 at my new school (Oakenwald School in Fort Garry, now part of Winnipeg). I remember a little girl in braids, pushing her desk down the hall to our Grade 2 classroom, after she was discovered to be too intelligent to begin school in Grade 1. Our friendship extended until well into our university years and Barb’s departure for B.C. We remained in regular contact, and were looking forward to another visit this summer. I miss you and will never forget you, Barb. Yours was a life well-lived, in accordance with your values of kindness, generosity and truth. I am so proud to have been your friend. Ken and I want to extend our sincere sympathy to your friends and family members who are also missing you.
A fine reporter who researched her topics well before writing them. I was a local teacher president and BCTF Executive member when Barbara covered education for the Colonist in the 1070’s. I always found her fair in her reporting after any interview. She could be trusted with background information and yet still use her understanding of it to clarify her story. Journalism lost a great reporter when she left the profession, squeezed out by changing times.
Barb was a sounding board when I had questions in regards to my earlier coroner days. She was a true word smith and could always be counted on to weed out the extraneous and find the root problem. Compassionate, empathetic and filled with a joyful heart. As someone once said “it’s not the years in your life but the life in your years”…Barb’s life was short but filled to ovrflowing