CONGRATULATIONS TO JOHN ROWE! 2020 Recipient of the OCJA Marjorie Blakeney Memorial Award

I am proud and very pleased to announce and congratulate John Rowe, CJA Durham’s CSO Manager, on his presentation today, (in absentia) at our Ontario Community Justice Association 2020 Annual Conference – a successful virtual conference managed by Sue Sutcliffe of World Event Center with guest appearances by Stephen Young, Renee Whittaker and myself!   John has been awarded the Marjorie Blakeney Memorial Award.

HISTORY OF THE AWARD

Marjorie Blakeney was a CSO Coordinator in Lanark County servicing the Smiths Falls, Carleton Place, Almonte, Perth and outlying rural areas.  She was contracted with the Ministry of Corrections but did not have an office so she operated her program out of her home and car.  She would travel the back roads in search of clients and work with them in order to complete their required community service hours. Marjorie was a warm, friendly, sincere and honest woman who went out of her way to assist anyone or anything in need; strays and animals were very close to her heart.   Marjorie was married to Ian who had been employed with the RCMP and was now retired. They had one child, a daughter, who was working in Hawaii at a Montessori School. Marjorie and Ian were in the process of building a new home in the “boonies” of the Merrickville area.  Marjorie was a wonderful knitter, loved to play on her piano, and loved to look at the stars at night through her skylight, while bathing.

Marjorie had just returned from an OCJA conference in October and her husband Ian picked her up at the Smiths Falls train station. It was going to be their first night at the new house. When they arrived home, they discovered they had a sick animal and were en route with the pet to the animal shelter.  It was snowing out and Marjorie and Ian were killed instantly in a head-on collision by a client of Marjorie’s, who was drunk. Marjorie was approximately 55 years young. She was an animal lover, compassionate, and laughed at everything. Thanks to Claudia Orleck (a former CSO Coordinator from Brockville who left the program in 1999) who provided the OCJA with Marjorie’s background information.

Congratulations to John Rowe! John Rowe has been recognized for his service as a Community Service Order Manager for over 30 years, most recently for his many years at CJA Durham.

John is currently on a Covid-19 Leave for health reasons but has developed relationships with dozens of Durham Region organizations over the years and has been a highly regarded community member.  John has remained a positive member of our agency and the community through the many ups and downs of Adult Probation and Community Service Orders.  His standing in the community and his ongoing mentorship has allowed us to continue to provide services to our Adult Probation Office and to the people who require community service hours.  Our most recent audit conducted by the Ministry of the Solicitor General of our CSO Program resulted in a score of 100%.