Sylvia Luxton’s legacy of advocating on behalf of seniors will continue to live on in Bradford.
Members of council and town staff and the Bradford Seniors Association will recognize the late resident by naming a parkette in her honour near the pickleball courts beside the Danube Seniors Leisure Centre at 715 Simcoe Rd., on Saturday, July 27 at noon.
Luxton died at 94 on Jan. 27, and is regarded as being instrumental in convincing then-mayor Frank Jonkman Sr. and council to accept the donation of the Danube Countries Community Centre from the Danube Countries Unity Club, and the building officially reopened as the Danube Seniors Leisure Centre on April 25, 1998, according to records from the Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library.
At the time, the centre was intended to be run by seniors, for seniors, and Luxton was reported to predict the centre and its programming would grow and develop based on the desires of the newly formed Bradford Seniors Association.
“You are the people who have built Bradford and put it together, and we felt you deserve it,” she said at the time.
Luxton also helped the association transform the building into a handicapped-accessible space for Bradford’s seniors, featuring fitness and social activities.
For years, she was the Provincial Good Neighbours Ambassador, maintaining a program that built a network of caring in the municipality, to support vulnerable residents and promote being good neighbours.
Before her husband, Trevor Luxton, died at 92 on July 11, 2023, the Luxtons were married for more than 65 years. Both were known for their years volunteering at the Danube, helping to establish Community and Home Assistance to Seniors (CHATS) in Bradford, and organizing seniors’ day events and fairs.
— With files from Miriam King
