Outstanding Family Council Member of the Year: Diane Sheldon
by Family Councils Ontario
Family Councils of Ontario has a tradition of honouring an outstanding Family Council member with an award each year during Family Council Week. Family Council work takes time and effort and often partners-in-care are not recognized for their contribution. This award, Outstanding Family Council Member of the Year, is one way of celebrating a Family Council member who has gone the extra mile in supporting Councils and making life better for those living in Long-Term Care.
This year we want to celebrate the contributions of Diane Sheldon, a long standing volunteer with Family Councils, who passed away in March of this year. Diane was a trained volunteer of the Family Council Facilitator Program, the founder of the Family Council Network in the Erie St. Clair region of Ontario, and was elected chair of the network in 2007. Diane worked closely with the Family Councils’ Program over the years and helped in the planning and launching of Family Councils Ontario in 2014.
Diane was a creative committed Family Council advocate, always looking for opportunities to talk about Councils and encourage families to get 
involved. Each year, during Family Council Week, Diane organized events (Photo right: Diane with the Village of Aspen Lake Snoezelon Cart and St John’s Ambulance Pet Therapy Program dog Kula at Family Council Day Expo)for her region. She set up booths at malls, organized health fairs, and was able to encourage people to get involved and always made it fun (Photo left: Diane at FCO Conference helping to build a paper tower). Her capacity for fun and mischief in the midst of serious work was a rare talent. We miss Diane’s commitment, enthusiasm and her humour.
Diane’s name will be added to the plaque we have at FCO that honours the recipients of this award and as part of this year’s award we are donating a set of Atul Gawande’s book Being Mortal to the Aspen Lake Family Council in memory of Diane. We encourage everyone to read this award winning book about aging and perspectives on resident-centered care. We know that Diane would have enjoyed the book and the interesting discussions it will provoke for your Council. We hope the Aspen Lake Family Council will read this book together and share their reflections with the rest of us to honour Diane Sheldon’s contributions and her memory.