LAHORE: Poet, philosopher, educationist and social worker Jocelyn Ortt-Saeed, 79, who passed away in Lahore on Sept 26, was laid to rest at the Jail Road symmetry on Sunday.

Her service held at the Lahore Cathedral, The Mall, on Sunday was attended by her family, friends, members of the civil society and other prominent personalities, including Moneeza Hashmi, Samina Rehman, Faqir Ejazuddin and Prevail Qurush.

Dua will be held on Monday (today) between Asr and Maghrib at 72-H, Gulberg III, Lahore.

Educationist Mariyam Ortt-Saeed told Dawn that her mother (Jocelyn) was at the fourth stage of cancer. She said her mother’s condition deteriorated soon after her arrival from Australia and she was admitted to a private hospital but she could not survive.

A mother of six children, Ms Ortt was born on Jan 18 in Brisbane and spent 55 years of her life in Pakistan. She wedded Muhammad Saeed, a Pakistani sugar technologist, in 1959 at Karachi when she was on her way to Germany for studies.

Mr Saeed was associated with a sugar mill in Jaranwala.

She was a member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and Faiz Ghar.

Ms Ortt was a regular contributor to Dawn. She would contribute periodically a verse or a poem. She would also support the ‘Centre for Inspiration and Creativity’ in Lahore which was established by her daughter Mariyam.

It was a women empowerment project run by both the mother and the daughter. The project had different activities such as teachers training, women counseling and film clubs.

Her seven poetry collections have been published, the latest was ‘Distinct Horizons’.

She was a fluent German speaker and remained associated with the Goethe Institute, Lahore. She used to play piano in functions of the institute. Though studied in Germany and Australia, she had a great passion for ‘kalam’ of Sufi poets, particularly Bulleh Shah. She would regularly attend poetry sittings with her husband in different cities of Pakistan.

The late Ms Ortt was an ardent supporter of art and had great respect for artistes.

“My mother kept sending me in white dress with my father to offer prayers on every Friday at mosques in the Sugar Town till I turned 13,” Mariyam said.

She said her mother used to fast for 30 days. “We would also visit the church.” She said that her father and mother, though belonged to two different religions, had great respect and love for each other.

She said her mother always emphasized that her children should learn their own language, and it was due to her efforts that all our sisters and brothers could speak Urdu fluently. “We used to speak Urdu with our father and English with our mother”, she said.

Saleema Hashmi said Ms Ortt was a close friend of her mother Alys Faiz and was one of the oldest members of the Faiz Ghar.

She said Ms Ortt did huge community work in rural areas, particularly near Jaranwala. She said the late poet used to provide medical aid to children and women besides celebrating Eid festivals with them in rural areas.

Ms Hashmi said that Ms Ortt hardly missed the monthly meetings of the Faiz Ghar.

Madeeha Gauhar, Shahid Mehmood Nadeem, Saadan Pirzada and Muhammad Javed from Coopera Art Gallery and many other leading personalities of the city held the late poet in high esteem.

Published in Dawn, September 29th , 2014