Lauren was taken from us after a 5-year battle with metastatic breast cancer
on May 2, 2020. There are no words to express the pain, loss and sorrow
we feel. Lauren was the second child of George and Sonia Chisholm, the
sister of Barbara Chisholm and her husband Marco Abreu, the aunt to Emma
Abreu, the wife of Shaun Wilkes, and the mother to our dog Brisket.
Lauren received her B.Sc. in Political Science from Northeastern University
in Boston Massachusetts, where she met her husband Shaun and continued
to develop her passion for helping the less fortunate. Before her first year at
university, Lauren installed water systems in Haiti, bringing running water
to orphanages there and shaping the kind, compassionate, selfless woman
she would become. Lauren’s charitable work continued in Toronto after
university as an instrumental part of June’s Eatery in 2017, which was the
first HIV positive pop up restaurant in the world. June’s Eatery started off
as a work event for her job as a catering and events manager, but quickly
transformed into something much more. Lauren quickly formed meaningful
relationships with many of the HIV positive chefs, and it is fair to say they
both impacted each other in special ways in the years that followed. June’s
Eatery was put on by Casey House and led to Lauren becoming more
involved with them in the years that followed, including her participating in
the pride parade with them.
Working with a charity for a restaurant pop up was no accident, Lauren loved
food, fashion and hospitality, which would not be a surprise if you knew
Lauren. The hospitality industry is built around making people feel good,
something Lauren loved to do both at work and at home. Lauren had many
friends she cared deeply about; they were her source of inspiration along
with her family of aunts, uncles, and cousins. Lauren always said my friends
are my family, and truly they were as they helped her every step of the way
before, during and in a way after her battle with cancer when they moved
on to help her family during this impossible time.
Lauren was our ray of sunshine, and she will be missed for the rest of
our lives. Her impact on those around her will live on through them, as
everyone Lauren touched became a better version of themselves. In the
spirit of improving the lives of those around us, we would like to ask for
donations to one of Lauren’s favorite charities below in lieu of flowers.
Lauren’s wishes were for a large celebration of life to follow her death but
given the current situation and limitations on gatherings we plan on waiting
until those limitations are lifted before holding that celebration. Finally,
we would like to thank all of those who helped her at Princess Margaret
Hospital, where she was wonderfully taken care of from the first moments
of her diagnosis until her last breaths there in the palliative care unit, and
every moment in between. The doctors, nurses and support staff there that
made a meaningful impact on her treatment and care are too numerous to
list, they always treated her as a person and not a number and for that we
will forever be thankful.
Rethink Breast Cancer - www.rethinkbreastcancer.com
Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation - www.thepmcf.ca/Home
or Casey House - www.caseyhouse.com.