Karyn Anne Brooks: Matriarch. Mentor. Accountant. Problem solver. Born Feb. 22, 1954, in Montreal; died July 9, 2024, in Calgary, of cancer; aged 70.
Karyn Brooks.Courtesy of family
Karyn Brooks grew up in St. Catharines, Ont., with her parents and her younger sister, Janet. She was a competitive swimmer, lifeguard and top student. She went to Queen’s University to study honours math, but promptly ditched advanced algebra for commerce.
She met Bob Gillies while they were working as chartered accountants in Toronto in 1978. Bob was her boss at the time, but Karyn turned those tables around quickly. They married in 1979 and had two sons, Ian and Cameron. Karyn quit her job to raise the boys, unsure how this would affect the career that was so important to her. She decided to work part-time for 10 years when the boys were young to keep one foot in the corporate world.
Accounting problems often have two answers: the expedient one and the right one. Karyn was determined to find the latter. She’d deliver her conclusions in a smart pair of trousers and a blazer (always wear a jacket to be taken seriously, she’d advise young businesswomen). She stood by her convictions, no matter if the answer wasn’t appreciated. She was also particular with language. She would correct everyone’s grammar, including a few CEOs she worked for.
When she went back to work full-time at TransCanada, she rose through the ranks quickly. But she always made sure she was home every night for dinner, cooking it from scratch, then working again once her children were in bed.
Cameron loved comic books. On every business trip, she’d search out comic book stores in search of obscure titles he coveted. This was not a simple task in the days before Google maps.
Karyn prioritized her family and encouraged her employees to do the same. She hired pregnant candidates knowing they’d need maternity leave and she said yes when employees needed to run home for soccer games or meals. But Karyn was a big multitasker. Late one Friday before Thanksgiving, Karyn sent Cameron into the store to get the turkey while she sat in the car talking to New York with her computer open on her lap.
Her family moved across the country twice for her career. That meant commuting between Calgary, Montreal and Toronto to visit each other once the boys were grown.
She was an executive with integrity. But her title didn’t stop her from donning rubber gloves to clean out the communal office fridge when it got too dirty for her liking. She mentored countless people and retired in 2014 as senior vice-president and controller at BCE.
She loved to travel, always with her hair dryer. She frequented New York with Ian and insisted on going to a Broadway show before hitting up his choice of dive bars, where she’d hold court with whatever cast of characters she found. Both boys called her frequently as adults to use her as a sounding board for decisions big and small.
Karyn was always ready to solve problems over a glass of white wine. Holiday dinners at her house (always use placemats and never stack the dirty dishes) often included people who didn’t have family around. She welcomed strays.
Karyn played on the floor with her four grandchildren. Her eldest grandson, Bobby, had a sleepover at her house almost every week during the pandemic. When her youngest granddaughter, Sloane, had a health scare, Karyn flew to Toronto to help – and to make sure Sloane had a proper first birthday celebration when she got out of the hospital.
Karyn started CrossFit at the age of 66 and celebrated her 70th birthday with Bob, their sons and daughters-in-law by going to Vegas to see Adele perform. The evening ended at the craps tables in the wee hours.
Karyn proved that it was possible to “have it all.” It took hard work, personal sacrifice, late nights and extreme organization. She did it all, and she did it well.
Emily Jackson is Karyn Brooks’s friend.
To submit a Lives Lived: lives@globeandmail.com
Lives Lived celebrates the everyday, extraordinary, unheralded lives of Canadians who have recently passed. To learn how to share the story of a family member or friend, go online to tgam.ca/livesguide
