Advocates work to make sure slain London woman is not forgotten

Mark Sheldon's memories of his sister in their small Quebec hometown are full of joy — chasing each other around the backyard, laughing so hard it was difficult to keep running. 

Cheryl Sheldon was killed in June in London, Ont., and now two women's advocates are working to make sure there are ways to remember her both here, where she died, and in Fitch Bay, Quebec, where she grew up. They're working with her brother to ensure the 62-year-old is not forgotten. 

"Cheryl was tough. She had guts, gall," Mark Sheldon said of his older sister. "She had a tough exterior but she would be the first person to give you the shirt off her back." 

Megan Walker and Fabienne Haller, who used to work at the London Abused Women's Centre (LAWC), have started an online fundraiser to collect money for a proper headstone in Fitch Bay, southeast of Montreal, and a memorial bench in London.

"We want to make sure she is remembered in her home province and also here in London because she had so many supporters here," said Walker, who ran LAWC for 24 years before retiring in 2021. 

"We spent so much of our lives at the London Abused Women's Centre trying to make sure that women would not be killed, and that there would be avenues for women to explore for safety, and then we have a situation in our own backyard where a beautiful woman is killed even after doing everything right." 

Sheldon was rushed to hospital from her home in June and died of her injuries. Her boyfriend, George Kenneth Curtis, 44, was charged with second-degree murder. 

In the hours before she died, Sheldon called LAWC for help. Workers there referred her to Anova, a shelter for people fleeing gender-based violence. That shelter was full and referred her to Zhaawanong, a 24-hour emergency shelter for Indigenous women, where she was told she could have a bed for the night but never arrived. 

"We have a woman who did everything a woman is supposed to do when she finds herself in that situation, she looked for help, she knew what she had to do, and yet we lost her," said Haller, who worked at LAWC for 12 years before retiring last year. 

Haller and Walker's online fundraiser, called Standing Against Femicide, has raised $1,300 so far. 

"Cheryl did everything right and she's not here," Walker said. "I can't fathom just how terrified she must have been to have to go back to that home." 

The memorial bench in London would be a place for people to reflect on Sheldon's life and death, Haller said.

"Her friends and also anyone who knows the story, who wants to have a little bit of reflective time, can go and remember Cheryl and all the victims of femicide here in London."