Southampton resident receives OLTCA Lifetime Achievement award
Betty Colborne honoured for her volunteerism, educational accomplishments and dedication to athletics
Friday May 22, 2009 -- Deron Hamel
A resident at Southampton Care Centre is the recipient of an Ontario Long-Term Care Association (OLTCA) Lifetime Achievement award, in recognition of her volunteerism, educational accomplishments and dedication to athletics.

Betty Colborne, who has lived at the Bruce County long-term care home for more than a year, was nominated for one of the awards, which are given out each year to honour residents who have made exceptional achievements in their communities.

Andrea Prentice, the Jarlette Health Services-owned home’s resident and family services co-ordinator, says staff members nominated Colborne to recognize her community efforts throughout the years and to ensure her legacy is always remembered.

“Betty’s achievements and community contributions are remarkable,” says Prentice of Colborne, who is affected by Alzheimer’s disease.

“Her work with children, education and culture has helped shape the communities that she lived in. She made a difference in her lifetime,” says Prentice. “The Lifetime Achievement award preserves her memories through this recognition.”

Today, Prentice says Colborne’s strong sense of duty and belief in volunteerism continue to be a part of her life, noting she can always be counted on to help other residents.

“You can tell that that volunteering was very much a part of her life,” she says.

Colborne was born and raised in Sussex, N.B. In 1949 she graduated from McGill University and earned a masters degree at the University of Windsor. She began her professional career as athletic director at Dalhousie University, later becoming varsity coach at Queen’s University.

She married her husband, Bill, in 1955 and became a stay-at-home mother to raise the couple’s four children, while continuing to volunteer in her spare time.

While still finding time to play a variety of sports and raise her family, she enjoyed 33 years of community work in Windsor, then in Bruce County.

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