GIFFIN, Judith Harrington Giffin

Passed away peacefully on Thursday, 06 November 2025 at Belmont House, Toronto, Canada. She had battled cancer and dementia in her later years.
Following the birth of brother Peter Campbell Giffin in 1934 in Toronto, Judith was born in Antigonish, Nova Scotia to Spencer Harrington Giffin (1898-1989) and Pauline Frances Campbell Giffin (1905-2000). First residing in Isaac’s Harbour, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, the family settled in Westmount, Quebec in the early 1940s prior to the birth of Judith’s younger sister Ann Henderson Giffin in 1942. The family’s relocation in the late 1940s to the community of Sutton in the Eastern Townships of Quebec coincided with Peter Giffin’s diagnosis of schizophrenia. Though severely impaired for the remainder of his life, Peter showed extraordinary grace and courage in the face of adversity and was a constant source of inspiration to his family.

Over the course of fourteen years, Judith achieved a remarkable level of post-secondary education. By her mid twenties, she had received two Bachelor of Arts degrees from Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick. Judith graduated from Dalhousie Law School, Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1966, having been the only woman in her first year class. Following graduation, she spent three years on the faculty of Dalhousie while obtaining a graduate diploma in Criminology from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland and a Master of Library Science from Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey.

Admitted to the Nova Scotia Bar in 1972, Judith began the substantive professional phase of her career in Halifax working for the newly-established Nova Scotia Legal Aid. During the height of second-wave feminism, Judith was appointed in 1975 to the Nova Scotia Task Force on the Status of Women (a career highlight for her). She went into private practice that same year, later joining as a partner in the firm of Newman, Giffin, Darrach & Routledge. In 1980, Judith accepted an appointment as an Appeal Board Chairwoman under the “Public Service Employment Act” of Canada. For the next twenty-two years, Judith served in that capacity across the Atlantic Provinces until her retirement in 2002. She remained in Halifax until 2020, when declining health required relocation to Toronto in order to be closer to her immediate family.

An avid art collector, Judith amassed a significant private collection focused on the work of visual artists from Nova Scotia. She would routinely loan works from her collection to institutions such as the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and the Owens Art Gallery at Mount Allison University.

Judith was predeceased by her parents; her brother, Peter Campbell Giffin (1934-2010), of Pugwash, Nova Scotia; her sister, Ann Henderson Lichter (1942-2024) and brother-in-law, Adrian Paul Lichter (1941-2023), both formerly of New York City and later of Toronto. She is survived by her nephew, Peter Campbell, of Toronto. Her family extends deepest gratitude to the staff of Belmont House for the compassionate care Judith received in her final years.