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St. Albert loses community advocate

Rows of seats sat empty as a small vessel cut through the damp and grey off the coast of Vancouver Island in the spring of 2009.

Rows of seats sat empty as a small vessel cut through the damp and grey off the coast of Vancouver Island in the spring of 2009. While two-dozen whale watchers enjoyed warmth below deck, Sue Gawlak sat huddled next to her younger brother Gary, the pair bundled to eyeballs that were fixed on the horizon.

The salt spray and breaching humpbacks was a shared dream dating back to the siblings' childhood decades ago in Essex, and a retirement present after Sue's 25 years in the newspaper industry. If cancer couldn't derail that dream, wind and rain didn't stand a chance.

“She would not come off the deck. She was so sick then, pumped up on steroids, feet swollen like balloons,” said Sue's wife and long-time partner, April Bartlett. “That was a dream come true for her.”

As she often proved and taught over her 59 years, Sue believed in following dreams. That belief saw her rise from the ranks of untrained small-town correspondent to managing editor of one of the nation's top community newspapers, the St. Albert Gazette. She chased her dreams right up until her passing at her St. Albert home on Aug. 20 after a two-year battle with breast cancer.

Susan Jennifer Gawlak was born Nov. 12, 1950 in Edmonton, a working-class suburb of London, England, to William and Lily Fowler. Sue spent most of her childhood in Harlow, a borough town in Essex, where she was a table tennis champion and developed an affinity for fishing, a shared passion with her brother and father.

In her early teens Sue met her future husband George. The couple was married in 1971 and eventually left England for Canada, buying their first house in Cardiff Echoes in Sturgeon County.

While George worked at the university, Sue concentrated on raising the couple's two children, Kasia and Alex. As the family established roots, she became more involved in the community.

In 1985, Sue pursued a lifelong dream of writing by working as a stringer for the Morinville Gazette, writing columns about the latest bake sale, dance and softball game in Cardiff Echoes, or “the stuff no one else wanted to cover,” says her daughter Kasia. Despite no formal journalism training, the quality of her reporting and passion for issues like politics and education did not go unnoticed by the newspaper's editors.

“It wasn't long before they recognized this stringer had some ability,” recalls Duff Jamison, president and CEO of Great West Newspapers LP, which owns the Gazette and the now-defunct Morinville paper.

Sue proved her mettle by covering the local school board, eventually earning a full-time job that saw the ex-pat Brit cover North American sports like baseball and hockey, often with enjoyment. She went on to cover municipal, provincial and federal political beats and also reported on health issues before moving on to the assistant editor's role at the St. Albert Gazette in the early 1990s. When the editor left the paper to raise a family, Sue rose to the challenge.

“It wasn't too long before I realized this was the editor,” says Jamison, who was impressed with her work ethic and a curiosity that transcended headlines into all aspects of the business, including ad sales and marketing.

Just as she did in her correspondent days, Sue grew into the editor's chair by learning on the job, sometimes against crushing deadlines. Retired Gazette staffer Susan Jones worked with Sue for almost 20 years and recalls one Christmas season the newsroom had to put out three newspapers in one day — during the labour-intensive cut and paste days before desktop publishing.

“She had it figured out so it went so smoothly that everything went ‘according to Sue' you might say,” Jones says. “I think that was when she really, really gained confidence [in the editor's chair]. She would talk about it for years afterward … I know it was a big deal to her.”

As a boss Sue was always “fair,” Jones says, but more importantly she was the calming influence amid creative personalities, constant deadlines and high stress. She encouraged her reporters through engagement, almost never turning down a story idea, even if it meant tackling sensitive issues like AIDS, gender reassignment surgery, or financial mismanagement on a First Nations reserve — not exactly standard community newspaper fare in the 1990s.

“She set the bar very high. I think most of us wanted to jump over that bar,” Jones says.

One of her favourite parts of the job was working with young reporters. Peter Boer recalls his early days as a cub reporter six years ago covering a Sturgeon County council meeting with almost zero experience.

“She felt the best way for me to learn was to simply experience it firsthand and then talk about it later,” says Boer, now the paper's co-editor. “It was through those discussions that she helped teach and enlighten. She was never tired of discussing anything.”

Sue's passion for local politics and social issues came through in the hundreds of editorials she penned for the newspaper, often as an advocate for change. Jamison says she believed the newspaper has a role in community building, “And I dare say she had some success with that. St. Albert is a caring, passionate place.”

Just as she liked to foster dialogue through the newspaper, Sue encouraged her own children to stay abreast of issues and challenge ideas. The supper table was often a place of debate, and mom was never shy with her opinion, says son Alex.

“Growing up at my house it was never a quiet dinner. There was always something to talk about, whatever was in the news, politics, the economy,” he says.

That openness to ideas kept the children from being boxed in, he says. They were allowed to grow in a supportive environment, often with mom leading by example.

“I am so proud of her. She's totally been my role model for what she did,” says Kasia, who, like her mother is self-taught in her chosen vocation, web development. “Every time I felt like it was tough I would look to her as inspiration that you can succeed if you work hard and have the passion.”

Sue's family life changed when she and George divorced in the mid-1990s after 25 years. She eventually found new love in Bartlett, a photojournalist at the Gazette who, like her, was divorced with two children. The workplace dynamic and Gawlak's position at a high-profile position in the community meant the couple kept their relationship secret for most of the 10 years they lived together.

Though Sue was outwardly a very private person, Bartlett knew the other side that enjoyed camping and fishing, gardening and evening walks with the dogs. Nothing was more important than family and the two blended families came together as one, a dynamic that also included George and his second wife.

“They've included us in their lives,” Bartlett says, describing an enduring love and respect between Sue and George. “Being able to do that has enabled our kids an easier transition into a blended family.”

Brendon Koenig says Sue was a second mother who was always willing to help with school or work issues, a place to go when turning to mom or dad wasn't an option.

“She was always like that rock for everyone. She always had a better time dealing with other people's issues … she was always there to give a hand.”

Sue would rely on this family support after her cancer diagnosis in 2008, which eventually prompted her retirement from the Gazette. Bartlett, who had previously left the newspaper to pursue a career in health care, used her new skills to look after her.

Determined to make the most of her remaining days, the couple often retreated to the outdoors on camping trips and fishing excursions, and the whale-watching adventure.

After years of privacy, the couple decided to wed on Aug. 18, 2009 in a simple, outdoor ceremony in Bartlett's sister's backyard. They were given away by their children.

“It was just absolutely beautiful. It was relaxed, it was fun. It was a beautiful, beautiful day,” Bartlett says.

The couple remained strong even in the darkest hours of Sue's pervasive disease.

“She didn't let it get her down — she was a fighter all the way,” Bartlett says. “She kept me strong.”

She succumbed to her illness and died two days after their first anniversary.

“She was my best friend and my soul mate. I know I'm going to be lost without her.”

A funeral service for Sue Gawlak will be held 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Albert United Church, 20 Green Grove Dr.

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