Lois Ann Fairley

Lois Ann Fairley, born Lois Ann Cowan, was a Canadian registered nurse, patient care advocate and Ontario labour leader. She was born in Toronto on 6 July 1931 and graduated as a registered nurse at the Grace Hospital in Windsor, Ontario, where she worked from 1955 until her retirement in 1993 and served as a head nurse in several departments and as a mentor to student nurses. She was a founding member of the Ontario Nurses Association in 1973 and became its president in November 1976; during her term the association published its health review Let Us Take Care on the importance of nurses in patient care. She also sat on the board of the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario and championed Project Turnabout, a support group for nurses struggling with drug or alcohol addiction. She died on 19 July 2007, and a community service award for nurses in Windsor and Essex was later named after her.