The Ontario HIV Treatment Network
  STRIVING FOR EXCELLENCE
  ACHIEVING IMPACT
Greetings!

We are sad to announce that Jay Browne passed away on January 13, 2013. Please note that there will be a celebration of his life on Friday, January 18 from 6-8 pm at the Smith's Funeral Home in Burlington and a funeral on January 19 at 10:30 am at the Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church, also in Burlington.

 

Address information

 

Smith's Funeral Home - Guelph Line

1167 Guelph Line

Burlington, ON

 

Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church

287 Plains Road

Burlington, ON   

 

The OHTN is providing a bus service from downtown Toronto to Burlington. If you would like to take advantage of this service, please email Misa Yoshizaki or call 416 642 6486 ext. 2250. This service will be available for both the celebration of life and the funeral.

 

The deadline to reserve a seat is January 17 at noon EST.   

Joseph A. (Jay) Browne, II  
December 31, 1930 - January 13, 2013

 

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Jay Browne this past Sunday. At the OHTN, Jay will be remembered as one of the most kind-hearted, empathetic, and approachable people we have ever known. He personified generosity. He had time for everyone: he rarely said no and he always listened. At our staff meeting this morning, somebody said that if you met Jay for a mere 30 seconds, you'd remember him for the rest of your life. And a colleague wasted no time in pointing out that the opposite is also true; he would remember you. 

 

Jay was a driving force in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Ontario for the past 30 years. Appointed Chair of the Ontario Public Education Panel on AIDS (OPEPA) in 1985, he went on to become the first Coordinator of the AIDS Bureau at the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Under his leadership, community funding increased and anonymous testing was introduced. More recently, in true Jay fashion, he came out of retirement to become acting executive director of the OHTN through some difficult transitions. A long-time advocate for those most affected by HIV, Jay had unending compassion, empathy and respect for people living with HIV who he called "heroes". Jay was determined that the community leaders and activists who "provided the vision and energy for Ontario's response to AIDS" should never be forgotten. In the last two years of his life, he worked tirelessly to develop  Project Remember: a timeline that commemorates the people and events that shaped the HIV movement in Ontario.

 

We can all learn something from Jay. We should all be inspired not only by his professional accomplishments but by how he went about achieving them and how he treated people along the way. The best way to honour him is to carry on his legacy.

 
Statement from the AIDS Bureau

It is with deep sadness that I inform you that Jay Browne died last night. Jay was a unique and special person. He leaves behind a stellar and profound legacy. His kindness, compassion, intelligence, insight and forethought shaped the AIDS community in Ontario for close to thirty years. Everyone he met will be able to tell you a story of how he connected as a person and a professional.

 

If you have only come to be involved in AIDS issues within the last ten years, it will be hard for you to realize the depth and profundity of his influence. Jay was the chair of the ministry's first advisory committee on AIDS, the Ontario Public Education Panel on AIDS and, shortly after, he became the AIDS Coordinator and started the AIDS Bureau at the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.

 

His influence is a thread that is tightly woven into the metaphorical quilt of Ontario's response to HIV. Under his leadership, community funding was increased and stabilized, anonymous testing was initiated, and the current structure of OACHA was created. Through a precedent-setting contract related to AZT, he brought more than ten million in research dollars into Ontario. Listening to community activists and researchers, he started HOOD which is now the OHTN Cohort Study. More recently he came out of retirement to help the OHTN through some difficult transitions and continued to be an important advisor to the OHTN staff and board until his death. His accomplishments are endless.

 

Most importantly Jay respected, supported and gave his heart to everyone working in HIV. Back in the mid-1980s, he recognized that nothing would be accomplished without the input of people living with HIV and the community. He lived GIPA long before we had an acronym. It is hard to see through the loss at this time but I know that he would want everyone in the AIDS community to continue the work. He would be too modest to imply that we need to approach the challenges of HIV in the way that he did; with compassion, empathy, intelligence, respect, pride and courage. He set the bar very high.

 

Frank McGee, Manager, AIDS and Hepatitis C Programs, Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care

Statement from David Hoe, President, OHTN Board of Directors      

 

It is with sadness and stillness that I pass on the news that Jay Browne passed away last night. He, in true Jay spirit, talked with a few of us to prepare for this day, fully aware that his rapidly deteriorating health had a conclusion. I spoke with him last week during which he talked with great affection and admiration of the OHTN community - always, always believing what we do is vital.

 

January 16, 2013
  Striving for Excellence
  Achieving Impact
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