Dr. Sheela Basrur, who died on June 2 at age 51 after an arduous but graceful pas de deux with a rare form of cancer, was a leader in public health, a mentor in the art of living and an infallibly radiant presence in the IWF community. She had been ill for 17 months, but maintained her vibrant smile and impish wit until the end.

When the SARS outbreak struck Toronto in 2003, it was Sheela, then the city's Chief Medical Officer of Health, who stood at the microphones projecting hope and purpose in the face of a new infectious disease that at the time seemed uncontrollable. Like all inspirational leaders, Sheela didn't pretend to have all the answers. Instead, she radiated committment to asking the right questions, trusting that answers would follow. In her subsequent position as the province's top doctor, she championed the Smoke-Free Ontario legislation before cancer forced her to step down. Thanks in no small measure to Sheela, non-smokers can now go to offices and restaurants without fear of inhaling someone else's nicotine fumes.

Canada remembers the unflinching courage of the public Sheela. So do her friends in the IWF community. Yet what endeared her to us was the sparkling good humour, the boundless curiosity and and the sheer good sense of the private woman we were privileged to know.

We remember her zest for colour (the mauve or yellow suit, the shiny red nail polish).

We remember how joyous she looked at the Calgary Stampede, in a cowgirl hat that seemed almost as big as she was.

We remember how she loved her family and would often bring her sister Jo or her daughter Simone to our gatherings.

Sidelined by cancer, she continued to explore new horizons. She indulged her interest in fiction (had we read The Interpreter of Maladies?). She took up knitting and baking. In a letter to IWF Canada friends, she updated us all on her progress: "I am turning my home into a little test-kitchen and am always on the lookout for lab rats willing to try my latest batch of brownies or slice of pie. Please note, there are no actual rats in my kitchen and if anyone finds a hair in their food, it isn't mine!"

How typical of Sheela to be cracking a joke and thinking of gustatory pleasures. Her one misgiving about Grand River Hospital, where all the staff adored her, was the blandness of the food. IWF members Mary Aitken, Ann Medina and Alison Youngman made sure that she could savour bouillabaisse, lemon tart and interesting salads. Even if she could manage just a few tastes, the sight and scent of good food brought by friends would lift her spirits.

True to form, she never minimized the challenge she was facing. Some would have called it a battle, as if cancer were an implacable enemy. Sheela didn't see it that way. Accepting the Order of Ontario in April, with her pain medication in one pocket and her Kleenex in the other, she compared her disease to a beautiful bouquet of roses with thorns that made her bleed. She could choose to focus on the roses or the thorns. There was no mistaking the effort that this last public appearance required of Sheela, who had made the trip to Markham from her hospital bed at Grand River Hospital in Kitchener. At times she struggled for breath. Yet she still looked beautiful and absolutely herself with a fresh manicure, sparkly earrings and a colourful scarf at her throat.

Toward the end she found the strength to spend a last week at home with her family. She spoke of joining IWF at the Stratford Festival. She went to Verity for lunch with Mary (still looking lovely, albeit frail) and had all her nails painted. We allowed ourselves to believe that she would have a little more time, but every moment Sheela had, she lived to the fullest. That's how we remember her, and why we celebrate the gift of her friendship.