Carol will be missed.
Sudbury journalist Carol Mulligan passed away suddenly Aug. 11. She was 67. Family and friends are invited to attend a Celebration of Life Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019 from 11 am to 2 pm. which will include a service and luncheon to follow at the Cooperative Funeral Home on Lasalle Blvd.
Mulligan worked at Northern Life and The Sudbury Star during her long career in journalism.
A gifted writer, she spent a dozen years at Northern Life (1986-1998) as the managing editor fixing reporters’ grammar and spelling. Later at The Sudbury Star, she made her mark as a reporter challenging politicians, company CEOs and community leaders to be straight with citizens.
I met my friend in 1986 at Northern Life. She taught me a lot about community newspapers, things we didn’t learn in journalism school.
I admired her passion for the people of Sudbury and how deeply she got involved with some of the issues. Journalists are taught to keep their distance but her empathy for the people she interviewed and things she wrote about was her strength.
Her legacy may be the many journalists she mentored or influenced during her career which began in Metroland newspapers in southern Ontario.
Brian McLeod was managing editor at The Sudbury Star when Mulligan worked as a reporter in the 2000s. He remembers her the way most of us do: the fighter for people who couldn’t fight for themselves.
He told sudbury.com, “When it came to the disadvantaged, she was determined to shine a light on their plight. Stories of unfairness and unnecessary hardship drove her above all. She genuinely worked to make the world a better place for people who needed that help.”
While she was a reporter, Mulligan got arrested during a protest at former Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci’s office almost a decade ago. She was proud of that.
Mulligan devoted much of her time to health care coverage, exposing stories of hallway medicine and fighting for patient rights.
After she retired from reporting, Mulligan ran for the NDP nomination in Sudbury with the motto “Sudbury needs a Mulligan.” The party released a statement Monday from NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, NDP MPP France Gelinas and NDP MPP Jamie West, calling her “a New Democrat activist.”
“I was deeply saddened to learn today of the passing of Carol Mulligan,” the statement said. “Carol was a talented journalist and a thoughtful storyteller committed to showing the human side of every issue. As a reporter and an activist, she worked tirelessly to keep her fellow citizens informed and to be a voice for those whose stories would otherwise not be heard.
“My thoughts are with Carol’s family and loved ones today, and with her community of Sudbury. We have all lost a powerful and compassionate voice.”
Mayor Brian Bigger said in a statement he was very sad to hear the news.
“She was a well respected journalist with so much passion for our community and the people who lived here,” Bigger tweeted. “I want to extend my condolences to her friends and family during this difficult time.”
With files from sudbury.com
MULLIGAN, Carol Doreen
It is with saddened hearts that we announce the sudden passing of Carol Doreen Mulligan on August 11th, 2019 at the age of 67 years old. Carol was the beloved daughter of Ernest and Anna Mulligan (both predeceased) and loving sister to Janice Burnett and husband Blake. She is always remembered by her niece Heidi Ferguson (Tom) and nephew Clinton Burnett (Allyson) and forever in the hearts of her great-nephews Owen and Felix Ferguson and her great-niece Skyla Joy-Mitchell. She will be greatly missed by her fur babies, the Artful Dodger and Sheryl Crow. Carol will be remembered and truly missed by all her friends, family and everyone who knew her. Carol had such an outgoing personality and loved to be immersed in a good conversation and debate. She was a passionate writer and loved her career as a journalist, which she dedicated over 40 years of her life to. She truly enjoyed meeting every person she had the privilege of interviewing and not only listening to their stories, but sharing them with her readers. Most times, she provided a voice for those that did not have one and was a true champion for the underdog. A big thank you to the nursing staff of the ICU at Health Sciences North. Family and friends are invited to attend a Celebration of Life for Carol on Saturday, August 17th, 2019 from 11a.m. to 2p.m. which will include a service and luncheon to follow at the Cooperative Funeral Home, Sudbury, ON. Donations in Carol’s memory may be made to the Elgin Street Mission.
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