Anne Brearley Piternick

Anne was born in Blackburn, Lancashire to Ellen and Walter Harrison Clayton, sister to Walter and Ellen, and also to Betty, Mary, Florence, Tom, Harry, and Norman, her Father’s first family. Beloved friend to many relatives in England (especially Janet, Margaret, Trish, Barbara, Jean, Susan, John, Kate and Vicki), New Brunswick (Jan), and New Zealand (Clare, Jeff, Dave and Michael). Will be missed by special friends in Vancouver (especially Jim and Jocelyn, Brenda, Peter and Debby, Lynne and Peter, Vicki and Edwin, and Judy), UBC colleagues, and Tapestry friends.

Anne’s early years were spent in Blackburn and, during the war, in a small village in Yorkshire. She attended Manchester University where she graduated in 1945 with an Honours BA in English Language and Literature, and a year later, a Teacher’s Diploma. She began her library career in 1952 as an Information Officer for the Research Department of a Manchester textile company. After qualifying as an Associate of the British Library Association (later, Fellow), Anne learned about opportunities at the UBC Library and, in 1956, flew to Vancouver when she was offered a position as Librarian. She never looked back. In 1966, she was hired as Associate Professor in the UBC School of Librarianship (now the School of Information), and then Professor (1978) until her retirement in 1991.

Her teaching and research interests included special libraries, authorship, indexing, and access to the scientific literature. In the seventies, her engagement in advancing Canadian bibliography to reflect the growth of research and publication led to her serving as Chair of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Awards Committee for Bibliography and Archives, the first time these areas were supported by SSHRC. With the advent of computerization, her work on alternatives for the scientific journal, scientific authorship, and online searching were seminal contributions, including development of a course in online searching. Her final research project, using the development of the Historical Atlas of Canada, investigated the representation of cartographic information visually in the transition from print to computer.

Anne was active in the UBC Faculty Association and was the Senate Faculty Association Representative (1969-72), at that time the only other woman in Senate apart from the Dean of Women. She was Associate Dean of Arts (1985-90), the first woman to serve in the Dean of Arts office.

Professional activities included President of the Canadian Association of Special Libraries and Information Services (1969-70), the Canadian Library Association (1976-77), member of the National Library Advisory Board (1978-84), and of Committees of SSHRC (1981-87). She received many awards and distinctions for services to her profession and University. In 1987, she was Distinguished Visiting Professor at UCLA, and in her retirement, President, Association of Professors Emeriti (2003), and an active Member of the President’s Advisory Committee on Campus Enhancement (2004–22) and Chair (2018-20).

Shortly after her arrival in Vancouver, Anne was joined by Neil Brearley, and they married and built a home together. In 1971 after they divorced, Anne married George Piternick. Anne and George shared their lives for thirty years until his death in 1999. He supported her busy career and they had great happiness together. They travelled in the Pacific Northwest and the Southwest USA to explore native cultures and landscapes, as well as to England, Europe and Scandinavia. Their shared interest in First Nations culture was reflected in long-standing support of the UBC Museum of Anthropology. They were great hosts and Anne’s wonderful cooking made their dinner parties legendary. Her fashion sense was notable, as was her talent for sewing stylish clothes.

After George’s death, Anne continued her full life in their home, and then from 2015, in Tapestry at UBC, maintaining her committee work, patronage, concerts, gallery visits, and meals with acquaintances of all ages. She died peacefully on January 20, 2023, after a brief illness.

‘A real force of nature,’ Anne will be much missed by her relatives and friends for her generosity, talent for connecting people, and commitment to giving back.

On their marriage day, George gave Anne a necklace with a quote from John Donne: ‘All other things to their destruction draw, Only our love hath no decay; This no to-morrow hath, nor yesterday; Running it never runs from us away, But truly keeps his first, last, everlasting day.’

To remember Anne, donations to the Friends of Chamber Music (Vancouver) or the UBC School of Information Anne and George Piternick Student Research Award would be appreciated.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.vancouvercrematorium.com for the Piternick family.