Mary Louise Dickson 1939-2024
Dickson Appell LLP and its many alumni announce with great sadness the passing, on January 22, 2024, of Mary Louise Dickson, our law partner since 1990.
There are few lawyers who practice in the areas of estate planning and administration, trusts, personal tax and business planning, and the creation and maintenance of charities, who do not know of Mary Louise’s significant contributions to these fields. More importantly, people who struggle with disabilities, or who care for and must plan for loved ones have benefited from Mary Louise’s activism. She was a constant advocate for the rights of the disabled and for raising awareness of the barriers faced by people whose full potential cannot be realized because of obstacles within the community, and for her work on laws and policies meant to ease such obstacles.
Mary Louise’s personal story is legendary: felled by polio at the age of seven, with a significant part of her childhood spent in the rehabilitation facility in Warm Springs, Georgia (a medical community founded by Franklin Delano Roosevelt to treat polio victims), Mary Louise determined that neither her disability, nor the wheelchair that she depended upon, would define or deter her. Instead, and improbably, she was called to the Ontario bar in 1966, having graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School as one of three women in a class of 150 at a time when the physical barriers alone were unsurmountable without the help of her classmates. One of her favorite stories was, upon learning that Mary Louise had never been on the subway, her classmates carried her down the stairs of the Osgoode subway station so that she could take a ride.
Mary Louise went on to enjoy a career of renown. While Mary Louise’s professional accomplishments and community involvements were significant by the time she joined us, we are proud that from 1990 our firm was home base, and we were able to witness the acceleration of her professional and community contributions.
Mary Louise was an elected Bencher of the Law Society, and a member of the federal Human Rights Commission. She was a past Chair of the Trusts and Estates Section, Ontario Bar Association, and a President of the Estate Planning Council of Toronto. Mary Louise co-authored Ontario Estates Practice and The Wills Book, in addition to countless papers and publications. She was very often an instructor, speaker and seminar leader for numerous professional groups, including the Ontario and Canadian Bar Associations and the Law Society.
Mary Louise was a Director of many important organizations, both within the practice of law and within the greater community. Among the many organizations that had the benefit of her directorship were the Centre for Independent Living, Lyndhurst Hospital, Canadian Paraplegic Association, Bishop Strachan School (her alma mater), Ontario March of Dimes, Camp Awakening, and more recently Toronto Summer Music.
Mary Louise, named Queen’s Counsel in 1983, was also the recipient of many awards and recognitions, among them the Order of Ontario, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, the Gold Key Award, Osgoode Hall Law School President’s Award, Women’s Law Association of Ontario, the Distinguished Old Girls Award from Bishop Strachan School, and the Award for Distinguished Service, Canadian Bar Association.
Mary Louise will be missed by everyone at Dickson Appell LLP.
For funeral information, please see this link.