Ann DRIVER

Pet dogs in Carlsbad had a best friend in Ann L'Heureux. So did fellow students of the city's heritage, art aficionados and the Carlsbad Arboretum Foundation. Defined by her community service, Mrs. L'Heureux took on one of her most daunting projects in the late 1990s when she proposed a no-leash dog park to accommodate pets denied access to the beach. Accompanied by her standard poodle Fletcher, she would lobby the City Council and parks and recreation officials and provide shining examples of dog parks in other cities. "She persisted, and countered arguments against it," said Elaine Lyttleton, a longtime friend and former president of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce. When the park was dedicated in September 2001 on 13,200 acres east of El Camino Real and north of Carlsbad Village Drive, Mrs. L'Heureux was there with her dog to lead the ribbon-cutting ceremony. "Everybody loves the dog park. It's one of the best-used parks in town," Lyttleton said. Mrs. L'Heureux, who was named Citizen of the Year by the Carlsbad City Council in 2003, died Sunday in her Carlsbad home. She was 61. The cause was breast cancer, which had metastasized to her bones, spine and kidneys, said her husband, Stephen. "It took Ann seven or eight years to get that dog park," said Carlsbad Mayor Bud Lewis. "Because dogs were banned at our beaches, and had to be on a leash all the time, she felt they needed this. Like anything else she tried to accomplish, Ann worked hard at it. Whatever was best for Carlsbad, she was interested in." As much as Mrs. L'Heureux liked dogs, she was originally a cat person. In the 1970s, while employed by Seabury Press in New York City, she and her husband were "adopted," as he put it, by a Chelsea alley cat. He recalled: "She said, 'So long as we have a cat, we won't have a dog.' " After the cat died, Mrs. L'Heureux took in the first of her five poodles. "When another cat adopted us, we had a poodle and cat at the same time," her husband said. A visit to in her in-laws in Palm Desert, where she was impressed by a popular dog park, provided the impetus for her campaign in Carlsbad. "Her unofficial goal was to have a dog park in every quadrant of the city," her husband said. "She felt it was a need that wasn't being met." A second dog park is under construction at Alga Norte Park in southeastern Carlsbad, City Councilwoman Ann Kulchin said. "Dogs bark when they're left home alone, not when they're running in circles and chasing Frisbees," Mrs. L'Heureux told The San Diego Union-Tribune during her campaign to build the park. "I think dog owners will make sure the park is problem-free." Built with $35,000 of city funds, the park is surrounded by a chain-link fence and has mulch ground cover, benches, trash cans, trash-bag dispensers and two water fountains – one for humans, the other for dogs. Mrs. L'Heureux was born Sept. 17, 1943, in Seattle, where her father, the late Rev. Canon William Aaron Driver, served as an Episcopal minister. She graduated from high school in San Marino and earned a bachelor's degree in English, with a minor in journalism, at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash. For several years, she worked as a copywriter for Seabury Press in New York, where she also developed skills in graphic arts. In 1972, one year after her marriage, she joined her husband in moving to Carlsbad. While raising her daughter, Stephanie, she immersed herself in volunteer duties, beginning with the Carlsbad City Library. "It was an opportunity to meet people and grow with the city," her husband said. Mrs. L'Heureux served on the library's board of trustees and teamed with writer Marge Howard-Jones in a research project that produced "Seekers of the Spring: A History of Carlsbad," published in 1982. "Ann helped me with the layout and selecting photos," said Howard-Jones. "She was a very social person who liked working with people and seeing good things happen in her community." For the Carlsbad Library, Mrs. L'Heureux archived hundreds of historical photos. Mrs. L'Heureux also teamed with Susan Gutierrez in writing "Beckett's Walk through Carlsbad History," which was aimed at third-graders, and she interviewed longtime residents for a video history of Carlsbad. She served on the Carlsbad Planning Commission in 2003 and 2004 and shared her love of gardening with fellow supporters of the Carlsbad Arboretum Foundation. She also was involved in Carlsbad Arts Associates and ArtSplash, an annual event to raise money for arts programs in Carlsbad schools. A two-day festival, ArtSplash features elaborate chalk painting on the pavement of Armada Drive. As a form of cultural enrichment, Mrs. L'Heureux opened her home to foreign exchange students. "She made a difference in the lives of kids from different countries and kept in touch with them," Lyttleton said. "Her daughter, Stephanie, was an only child, and she viewed this as a chance for Stephanie to grow up with siblings." At age 50, Mrs. L'Heureux was diagnosed with breast cancer. "It was in remission for eight years," her husband said. "Basically, from 2000, she's been battling its recurrence." It was a spirited and dignified fight, said City Councilwoman Kulchin. "Ann was one of the bravest people I've known," she said. "She continued to be upbeat and to do as much as her health allowed." Survivors include her husband and a daughter, Stephanie L'Heureux of Osaka, Japan. Services are scheduled for 3 p.m. Sept. 17 at St. Michael's Episcopal Church, 2775 Carlsbad Blvd., Carlsbad. Donations are suggested to the Carlsbad History Room in care of Carlsbad Library, the Carlsbad Historical Society or the Carlsbad Arboretum Foundation.