Lois Hole

Lois E. Hole, CM, AOE (b. 1933, Buchanan, Saskatchewan – d. January 6 2005, Edmonton, Alberta) was a Canadian politician, businesswoman, educatorand best-selling author.

She was the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta from February 10 2000 until her death. She was known as the "Queen of Hugs" for breaking with protocol and hugging almost everyone she met, including journalists, diplomats and other politicians.

Biography

Lois Hole was born as Lois Elsa Veregin in Buchanan, Saskatchewan in 1933 to Milce Veregin (of Doukhobor ancestry) and Elisa Nordstrom, a Swedish-Canadian. [ [http://www.celebratingalbertans.ca/viewer_1.php?story_id=303 Celebrating Albertans] ] Her family moved to Edmonton, Alberta in 1944. In 1950, she met Ted Hole, a young University of Alberta agriculture student. Several years later they married and moved to a convert|200|acre|km2|sing=on farm near St. Albert, Alberta.

Lois and her husband, Ted Hole, ran a successful market garden business from their farm which they, along with their sons Bill and Jim, incorporated as Hole's Greenhouses & Gardens in 1979. It is currently one of Canada's largest retail greenhouse stores. Fact|date=April 2008

In 1993 Hole wrote her first book, "Vegetable Favourites", and went on to write five more in the "Favourites" series. There are currently more that 750,000 copies of the various books in this series in print. The series won the Educational Media Award from the Professional Plant Growers Association in 1996. In 1998, Hole's Greenhouse began publishing their own books starting with Hole's autobiographical "I'll Never Marry a Farmer". Lois Hole wrote several books with her son, Jim. Hole's Greenhouse has continued to publish gardening books along with a successful annual magazine called "Lois' Spring Gardening".

Affiliations/Awards

She was appointed a member of the Order of Canada in 1999 and a Dame of Justice of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem in 2000. In 1995, she was named Edmonton Business and Professional Woman of the Year and St. Albert's Citizen of the Year. In 2003 she was awarded the Gandhi, King, Ikeda Humanitarian Award. She was made an "Honorary Patricia" by the 1st Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.

Death

During her term in office, Hole was diagnosed with cancer in 2002. She underwent treatment in early 2003 and her health improved, but by late 2004 she was again battling abdominal cancer. Her illness prevented her from making several scheduled public appearances. She died in office at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton on January 6 2005, aged 71.

Legacy

The Alberta Library Trustees Association (ALTA) established the Lois Hole Award in 2001. In November 2004, two months before Lois Hole's death, the Capital Health Authority in Edmonton announced that a new wing of the Royal Alexandra Hospital would be named The Lois Hole Hospital for Women.

Personal Education and Involvement in Education

* Secondary education at Strathcona Composite High School
*ATCM in Music, Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, Ontario
* 1998: School trustee at St. Albert School District #6
* Trustee and chairperson, Sturgeon School Division
* Athabasca University Governing Council
* Chancellor at University of Alberta, 1998 - 2000
* 1983: Awarded an honorary doctorate Doctor of Athabasca University
* 1997: Received a Distinguished Citizen Honorary Diploma in Business from Grant MacEwan College
* 2000: Received an Honorary Doctorate in Laws from the University of Alberta
* 2003: Keynote speaker at the Strathcona Composite High School commencement ceremony
* 2003: Received an Honorary Degree in Horticulture from Olds College, Olds, Alberta

Bibliography

* "Lois Hole's Vegetable Favourites" (originally published as "Northern Vegetable Gardening")
* "Lois Hole's Bedding Plant Favourites" (originally published as "Northern Flower Gardening: Bedding Plants")
* "Lois Hole's Perennial Favourites"
* "Lois Hole's Tomato Favourites"
* "Lois Hole's Rose Favourites"
* "Lois Hole's Tree & Shrub Favourites"
* "I'll Never Marry a Farmer"
* "Herbs & Edible Flowers"
* "The Best of Lois Hole"
* "Bedding Plants Q&A" (with son Jim Hole)
* "Roses Q&A" (with son Jim Hole)
* "Perennials Q&A" (with son Jim Hole)
* "Vegetables Q&A" (with son Jim Hole)
* "Trees & Shrubs Q&A" (with son Jim Hole)
* "Lois' Spring Gardening" annual magazine 1998–present

External links

* [http://www.angelfire.com/mi2/llennium3/hole.html Biodata]
* [http://www.albertaartsawards.shawbiz.ca/foundingpatron.htm Alberta Arts Awards site]
* [http://www.forposterityssake.ca/Obituary/CC/2005/CC12Jan2005.htm Obituary]
* [http://www.canada.com/edmonton/edmontonjournal/features/agreport2005/story.html?id=46240706-01c1-442d-ac2e-62de274f98a3 "Good harvest for a lifetime of work: Lois Hole leaves enduring legacy in agriculture"]

References