Jill Hamer-Wilson

Jun 17, 1965 - Nov 12, 2022

The family of Jill Hamer- Wilson announce with great sorrow the passing of their mother; Jill, who died after a long journey with lung cancer on November 12, 2022. Her memory will live on in the very special way she shared her courage, hope and love with all that were privileged to know her. A celebration of life is planned for early in 2023. In lieu of flowers, the family is asking that donations be made to:

https://www.givetoqueens.ca/jill-hamer-wilson

to honour her unwavering

dedication to those affected by lung cancer.

A Go Fund Me has also been created to provide support to her children and can be accessed at:

https://gofund.me/9733d03f

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4 Comments

Ron MacVicar December 14, 2022 at 3:46 am - Reply

Jill was a special person who shared her last journey with such feeling and openness on her blogs. She was the only daughter of my uncle, Bruce Hamer, and aunt, Bernice. My aunt, Gladys Hamer MacVicar(my mother) loved having Jill visit when she was younger. All of us have loved this photo of Uncle Bruce, Jill, and Aunt Bernice. She was special then as well.
May the Lord’s care extend to her entire family at this time.
Ron and Chris MacVicar
Susan Liver December 11, 2022 at 2:27 am - Reply

Jill
My dear friend. Jill has been a part of the fabric of my life for almost as long as I can remember. We were locker buddies in high school, we would leave each other funny little notes. Inside jokes. Teachers would mix us up.
Six months her senior, it was always my job to let her know what it was like to reach the next year (I checked out 30 – it’s not so bad).
We travelled engineering school together along parallel paths – her at McGill and me at Queens. Wrote many letters (I pull them from the shoe box and reread them now) sharing our hopes, frustrations, and news about ‘interesting’ boys. She proudly wrote her first letter on a computer to me – excited but apologizing because it seemed impersonal.
After her mom died, she joined many festive family dinners with my parents. Lots of pictures wearing goofy paper hats.
Jill’s shift from engineering to teaching seemed natural and understandable. Plunging into IVCF leadership puzzled me but it was clear she had found her passion, her community, and her calling.
Then she found love on the other side of the world (a musician! a teacher! a degree in French?, a like-minded Christian) and brought him home. Together they enriched our lives with music, laughter, and their three wonderful kids. She shared her kids with me before I had mine and became godparent to my son.
As I moved around with my career we always kept in touch. In the way of lifelong friendships- sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. I’m grateful it was more in the last few years – and to the researchers and medical staff who gave us that time.

She leaves me the gift of showing how to make the time we are given “matter” – in big ways (like lung cancer advocacy), for sure, but mostly in the little ways: thoughtful little gifts on no occasion, quirky little notes, observations about the beauty of the world, the squeeze of a hand, a warm hug, always knowing you are loved.

Gone but always with me.
Jesse Ruppell December 5, 2022 at 7:38 pm - Reply

Dear Jill, you are so missed. You were absolutely the biggest inspiration to Brigitte and to me in bringing us into the realm of lung cancer support and advocacy. You were a mentor, and you were a friend. Your compassion and hope will remain an inspiration.

To Jill’s family, especially her children, while we share your grief, we know that your grief will be distinctly challenging. There is a world of people who will support you any way that we can.
Kathryn Hamilton December 5, 2022 at 6:15 pm - Reply

I was so saddened to hear the news of Jill’s passing, although I never met her in person she has had such a positive impact on my life because of her advocacy work with those of us who have lung cancer. She will definitely be missed in our support group and with her blog. My heart felt condolences to her family and friends. May she Rest In Peace. 🤗

All Memories

Ron MacVicar

Jill was a special person who shared her last journey with such feeling and openness on her blogs. She was the only daughter of my uncle, Bruce Hamer, and aunt, Bernice. My aunt, Gladys Hamer MacVicar(my mother) loved having Jill visit when she was younger. All of us have loved this photo of Uncle Bruce, Jill, and Aunt Bernice. She was special then as well. May the Lord's care extend to her entire family at this time. Ron and Chris MacVicar

+ Reply

Susan Liver

Jill My dear friend. Jill has been a part of the fabric of my life for almost as long as I can remember. We were locker buddies in high school, we would leave each other funny little notes. Inside jokes. Teachers would mix us up. Six months her senior, it was always my job to let her know what it was like to reach the next year (I checked out 30 - it’s not so bad). We travelled engineering school together along parallel paths - her at McGill and me at Queens. Wrote many letters (I pull them from the shoe box and reread them now) sharing our hopes, frustrations, and news about ‘interesting’ boys. She proudly wrote her first letter on a computer to me - excited but apologizing because it seemed impersonal. After her mom died, she joined many festive family dinners with my parents. Lots of pictures wearing goofy paper hats. Jill’s shift from engineering to teaching seemed natural and understandable. Plunging into IVCF leadership puzzled me but it was clear she had found her passion, her community, and her calling. Then she found love on the other side of the world (a musician! a teacher! a degree in French?, a like-minded Christian) and brought him home. Together they enriched our lives with music, laughter, and their three wonderful kids. She shared her kids with me before I had mine and became godparent to my son. As I moved around with my career we always kept in touch. In the way of lifelong friendships- sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. I’m grateful it was more in the last few years - and to the researchers and medical staff who gave us that time. She leaves me the gift of showing how to make the time we are given “matter” - in big ways (like lung cancer advocacy), for sure, but mostly in the little ways: thoughtful little gifts on no occasion, quirky little notes, observations about the beauty of the world, the squeeze of a hand, a warm hug, always knowing you are loved. Gone but always with me.

+ Reply

Jesse Ruppell

Dear Jill, you are so missed. You were absolutely the biggest inspiration to Brigitte and to me in bringing us into the realm of lung cancer support and advocacy. You were a mentor, and you were a friend. Your compassion and hope will remain an inspiration. To Jill's family, especially her children, while we share your grief, we know that your grief will be distinctly challenging. There is a world of people who will support you any way that we can.

+ Reply

Kathryn Hamilton

I was so saddened to hear the news of Jill’s passing, although I never met her in person she has had such a positive impact on my life because of her advocacy work with those of us who have lung cancer. She will definitely be missed in our support group and with her blog. My heart felt condolences to her family and friends. May she Rest In Peace. 🤗

+ Reply