Surrey Schools mourns the loss of jazz legend Eleanor Collins, who inspired countless music students

Canadian jazz pioneer Eleanor Collins, pictured with her commemorative Canada Post stamp, has passed away at 104 years old. Often referred to as Canada's First Lady of Jazz, Collins was an inspiration to many music students in Surrey and White Rock, as well as a civic leader who championed racial equality throughout her life. (Photo courtesy of Judith Maxie)

Eleanor Collins, known as “Canada’s First Lady of Jazz” and a significant influence on countless music students in Surrey and White Rock, has passed away at the age of 104.

Collins, who passed peacefully this past weekend, was an inspiration to countless music students throughout the district and beyond. Collins was formally honoured for her contributions to jazz at last year’s Surrey Schools International Jazz Festival, highlighting her impressive career as a jazz pioneer, as well as her experiences as a Black Canadian breaking down racial barriers.

“Collins embodied the values that we work so hard to impart to our students,” said Surrey Board of Education Chair Laurie Larsen. “Her story is one of hard work, talent, determination and perseverance. Thank you, Eleanor, for all you have done and please know that your legacy will continue in the music of our next generation of artists, and in the hearts of so many across Canada.”

Originally Born in Edmonton, Collins relocated to Vancouver to pursue a singing career in the 1930s. She first performed gospel music on CBC Radio with the Swing Low Quartette from 1940 to 1942 before alternating to jazz with the Ray Norris Quintet on the Serenade in Rhythm program in 1945.

In the late early 1950s, she adapted to the stage and screen, appearing in several productions by Theatre Under the Stars before joining the cast of the CBC variety series Bamboula: A Day in the West Indies in 1954, marking the first interracial cast in Canada. The following year, she starred in The Eleanor Show, making her the first woman, person of colour and jazz singer to headline a show on national television, predating the Nat King Cole Show.

In the entertainment industry and in her personal and community life, Collins faced racial adversity, including an unsuccessful neighbourhood petition to prevent her family from moving into a Burnaby neighbourhood in 1948. Despite these challenges, she pushed back against racism, even turning down offers to work in segregated parts of the United States and confronting producers on glaring inequities.

She became a civic leader, using her music to fundraise at Victory Bond rallies and World Brotherhood and International Week events, among other social causes.

“She carried an innate interest in human welfare and employed many different kinds of social impact work in order to make a difference in the lives of others,” said her daughter, Judith Maxie. “She also believed that it was a way for others to get to know a minority race person and see that we shared many of the same values and thus our similarities were always greater than our differences.”

Even in death, Collins continues to be an inspiration to generations of students, something that she took pride in with last year’s Surrey Schools International Jazz Festival recognition.

“It makes me so happy to think any part of my story and my history might have inspired you,” said Collins at the time. “My life continues to be blessed with some of the most amazing people, like each of you.”