Trot Insider has learned Dawn (McGowan) Bremner passed away March 26, 2017 at her home in Jemseg, N.B. after a brief battle with cancer.
Dawn was the beloved wife of Ted Bremner and the dear sister of Heather McGowan RN who was her constant companion through her illness.
Dawn was born on October 25, 1939 at the family home where she lived. The daughter of Guy McGowan and Edrey (Colwell) McGowan, besides her parents, she was predeceased by two sons, Malcolm and Jim, her brother Glynn who died in a plane crash, and her aunt, mentor and best friend Myra D’Aoust. Besides Ted and Heather she is survived by the children of her heart Huguette Champagne, Alex Stairs and Emily D’Aoust as well as by special friend Nancy Cusack, and nieces, nephews and several cousins.
By her own admission, Dawn had a rewarding and relatively happy life. She attended the one room school at Jemseg, the new Cambridge Rural High School when it opened in 1952 and graduated from UNB in 1960. Over most of the next decade she taught school, lived briefly in the UK, the US and finally and joyfully returned home to Jemseg in 1969 when Ted accepted a teaching position in Civil Engineering at the University of New Brunswick.
With deep roots, actually over 200 years, in Jemseg and Grand Lake, Dawn became involved in local history. In 1974 she was the first president of the Queens County Historical Society, a group she organized with Dorothy and Pal Hetherington, Leslie Denton and Roberta McLean. This group changed and grew into Queens County Heritage, one of the most active small heritage organizations in the province.
While working with them for over 40 years Dawn played major roles in the restoration of the Queens County Court House that became the Court House Museum and the acquisition, moving and refurbishment of the Anthony Flower House in Cambridge–Narrows. As chair of the Publications Committee she supervised the writing of a dozen local historical titles – from Marion Reicker’s History of Queens County to 1900, to a cookbook, to a collection of H. A. Cody’s found poems. She edited the Society Newsletter for 25 years and was dedicated to saving every scrap of local history or ephemera that came her way, including the genealogy from family bibles. With some excellent helpers – Russell Bond and Cathy Coombes come to mind – she organized, mounted and curated dozens of museum exhibitions over the years and coordinated many public programs and fundraising events, including the Sir Leonard Tilley Birthday Dinners. She ran a second hand book business for a couple of decades that brought close to $100,000 into the organization’s treasury. She also had some talent in acquiring fascinating artifacts or even outright monetary donations for the good of the group.
Community Outreach endeavours on behalf of Heritage reached beyond exciting Heritage Day celebrations, and extended to presenting Victorian Christmas Trees over a few years at the Steamer Stop Inn, as well as displays both in the foyer of the New Brunswick Museum and in Old Government House. Local history was highlighted also in the mid 90’s when, for a few years Dawn did weekly talk shows for the CBC. More recently she also had a monthly historical article in the Jemseg Lions Newsletter.
While preserving and recounting local history may have been her obsession, Dawn involved herself in several other cultural and community concerns. Some of them were serving a term on New Brunswick’s first Advisory Council on the Status of Women and a second term a decade later; she ran as the Liberal candidate in the former riding of Queens South; she volunteered in the local schools in various ways, including judging at Heritage Fairs. She was a Past President of the Fredericton Society of Saint Andrew, served on the Board of the Queens County Fair, was an active participant in the 2008 Save the Ferry Campaign and was a Co–chair of the Committee that started the Jemseg Farmers Market.
Then there are her horses! For about 30 years she and Ted had a small standardbred horse breeding and racing operation. Dawn got great joy from exceptional horses like Rose Valley, Pipe Major and Corrie Mack, but she loved all her other horses, good and not so good. Her commitment to the standardbred industry led her being named one of the two NB people appointed to the first Maritime Provinces Harness Racing Commission where she served two terms. She was the first female President of the Atlantic Standardbred Breeders Association that run the Atlantic Sires Stakes, and she served for five years on the Board of Horse Racing New Brunswick.
Over the years she received various awards and citations but probably the one she was most proud of was the Paul Harris Award from the Gagetown Rotary Club. Last weekend she was awarded the Ambassador of the Year award by the NBSBOA, and she was well-known for being a tireless fighter for HRNB and the racing industry.
In her personal life, genealogy and family history was something she enjoyed very much, including collecting photographs of ancestors, artifacts and memorabilia related to them. She loved attending auctions and acquiring bits of local heritage and social history for safekeeping. Since second grade, reading was an important part of her life, and her interest in children and literacy led her to collecting beautifully illustrated children’s books. She collected cookbooks and while she was a fair to good cook, she had an interest in reading cookbooks as others might read novels.
As a young woman she enjoyed canoeing, camping and cross–country skiing with her family. Sometimes we laughed at her for saying some of her favourite things to do were digging fence post holes, piling fire wood and cleaning horse stalls, but it might have been true. She certainly enjoyed helping Ted cutting the winter’s fuel on their wood lot. She also enjoyed helping with the gardening, starting with their first small one in Tooting Beck, in London UK to the much bigger organic one in Jemseg. Dawn’s commitment to making best use of their organic vegetables and fruit benefited not only themselves but also their friends and neighbours.
Over the years, besides horses, her affection for furry things has been a constant benefit for generations of dogs and especially cats who now continue to provide hours of entertainment for others.
Dawn said she considered her life a satisfactory one, filled with many blessings, the greatest one being the constant on going love and support of a good husband.
A private funeral will be followed by a celebration of her life on Thursday March 30, 2017 at the Jemseg Lions Club at 3pm.
In lieu of flowers donations to Home Care Plus would be appreciated by the family.
Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Dawn Bremner.
On behalf of Executive of the
On behalf of Executive of the Board of Directors and the membership of Fredericton Horseman's Association, Inc., I would like to pass on our deepest condolences to Ted and the rest of the Bremner family.
Dawn was an amazing woman who was a major figure in all aspects of harness racing in New Brunswick and, indeed, the Atlantic Provinces, for more than 30 years. She was a familiar face, a strong voice for us as a member of the Board of Directors of HRNB, a wonderful friend and a much-loved member of our Fredericton Raceway family.
Dawn will be sorely missed by all of our membership, passed and present. Rest In Peace Dawn, you've earned it.
Our thoughts, prayers and continuing support go out to the Bremner family at this difficult time.
Saddened to hear of the
Saddened to hear of the passing of a tireless industry worker and good friend. I had had the opportunity to work beside Dawn for more than 25 years, on the many projects to assist the industry to move ahead or just stay alive. You could always count on more than support. She swung into to action. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends. Bucky
Very sorry to hear of Dawn's
Very sorry to hear of Dawn's passing. She was a lovely woman and in my many years of dealing with her at SC and symposiums in the Maritime Provinces, she was always a pleasure. RIP Dawn.