She was by all accounts, an amazing woman whose life touched so many others. And as family, friends and colleagues last week mourned the passing of Beatrice Enid Wickett-Nesbitt, they remembered a trail-blazer and a “true humanitarian,� who made an enormous difference in the lives of young and old alike.

Bea, as she was popularly known throughout a remarkable career in psychology, died Sept. 10 in Calgary. She was 95.

“She was really quite an extraordinary person, and a truly remarkably caring individual. I’ve often described her as a legend in her own time,� said Tim Hogan, supervisor of psychological services at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, who, fresh out of school in 1966, met Wickett-Nesbitt and became a cherished friend and colleague.

“She was just an exceptional human being who made enormous contributions to psychology in Canada. She just really was a shining light for what it means to be a caring health professional,� added Karen Cohen, the chief executive officer of the Canadian Psychological Association.

“Bea was a psychologist in an age when females weren’t doing that kind of work. She forged a path for women.�

Wickett-Nesbitt worked in several areas including training, mental health and palliative care, but her calling card was educational psychology, particularly the development of innovative programs for emotionally disturbed and autistic school children. She was a major player in education psychology, and her pioneering work in the school system, most of it at the old Ottawa Board of Education, became the model for schools across Canada. For that she was awarded the Order of Canada in 1986. She won numerous provincial and national honours, including an award for outstanding professional achievement, and the Canadian Rehabilitation Council’s most innovative program award. In 2007, the Canadian Psychological Association gave her a distinguished lifetime achievement award. She also received honorary doctorate awards from Acadia University and Carleton University, and served on numerous boards.

“A true humanitarian, Bea devoted herself to making this world a better place for everyone, particularly for children and the disadvantaged,� a family obit said.

“She lived by her strong belief that ‘the very cornerstone of our profession is compassion’.�

Born in Alberta, she went to Acadia University where she was a star basketball player. After graduating with an honours degree in psychology, she earned a master’s degree at Brown University.

She began her career in psychology during the Second World War, working with Dr. Wilder Penfield, the famous Canadian brain surgeon and founder of McGill University’s Montreal Neurological Institute. Taking time to raise a family after the war, she became executive director of the Canadian Mental Association in 1961. But it was from 1962, until her retirement in 1983 as chief psychologist at the Ottawa public school board, that she made her mark. Hogan, whom she hired straight out of the University of Ottawa in 1966, remembers her enormous energy, passion and commitment to disadvantaged children. He said her particular focus was the well being of “students in need, students that had learning problems and those that had emotional needs.�