It’s been years since local artist Sandy Robinson sat down for a visit with his old friend Sister Clare Ashe, however, when he received news of her death earlier this year he said he was deeply affected.
“Despite the distance between us we always kept in touch and talked on the telephone,” Robinson said. “We just loved her to bits.”
Feeling the need to do something in memory of his dear friend, Robinson did what he does best—he grabbed his paintbrushes and got to work. After some consideration, using careful strokes he turned his blank canvas into a large purple flower on top of a sky-blue background. “I felt it was important to do because she was a very special person,” Robinson said. “I chose a flower because flowers are beautiful and she was beautiful.”
The painting was proudly hung during a ceremony in the entrance of Jasper Elementary School, June 20, where Ashe had worked as a Grade 2 teacher and guitar teacher in the late 1960s to the late 1970s.
Despite leaving Jasper decades ago, Robinson, along with a handful of other friends who had gathered for the presentation, said no matter where Ashe went she always left an impact.
The Halifax native was born in 1930. At the age of 20 she joined the Sisters of Charity congregation and took her final nun vows in 1960. After that, she went on to receive her bachelor of science in elementary education and her bachelor of arts in the late 1960s, which eventually led to her teaching roles in Jasper—taking on a class of 32 students her first year.
“She was a great teacher with a great musical talent. She even did her best to try to teach the rest of the staff, but with not much success,” said Bryn Thomas, who was the JES principal during Ashe’s employment. “At the time we were very blessed with a great staff, but Clare permeated the whole school through her musical talents and good nature—and that’s something that always made her stand out no matter where she was.”
At the presentation, fellow educator Dale Karpluk also shared a few fond memories of her years teaching alongside Ashe.
“Sister Clare was a great teacher with a wonderful sense of humour. You could think of her as the singing nun, as she taught both students and staff to play the guitar and was well loved for her choir,” Karpluk said.
Aside from sharing her wisdom with the students of JES, Ashe also taught in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, New York and Bermuda. In 1995, she returned to her home province where she kept busy with the congregation and volunteer initiatives.
She died in Halifax at the age of 85 on Jan. 15, 2016.
Robinson’s painting will be on permanent display at JES.
“She was such an influence on all of her friends and students,” Robinson said. “And she will be dearly missed.”
Kayla Byrne [email protected]
