Trinidad-born mas’producer and bank executive Lystra Pierre died on Sunday at Scarborough Centenary hospital after a long battle with cancer. She was  65.

In 1989, soon after she arrived in Canada from Trinidad, Pierre became a Member of Scarborough Caribbean Sports Club (SCSC) and its Scarborough Caribbean Youth Dance Ensemble (SCYDE). For more than 20 years she was an executive of both the SCSC and the SCYDE.

Noreen Callender, a longtime member of  both the SCSC and the SCYDE and a close friend of Pierre, told the Caribbean Camera that  for many years, she (Pierre) was ” very much involved in mas’ production, giving many hours to helping with the creation of costumes for both the Caribana/Toronto Carnival Junior Carnival and adult Carnival, and also with the management of the SCSC mas’ camp.”

” She was always very active behind the scene at the King and Queen of the Band shows, helping to assemble the costumes for SCSC’s entrants in the competition, and marshalling of the bands along the  carnival parade route. Lystra also assisted with the marshalling of the bands for the Junior Carnival.”

Pierre , a project manager with the TD Bank in Scarborough, was also the secretary of the Malvern Community Group and a volunteer with Tropicana  Community Services.

She also served as treasurer of HUTTers – Hibiscus United of Trinidad and Tobago – an organization  which was  formed about four years ago whose mandate is ” to provide assistance in the form of finances or material requirements” to youth and seniors in Trinidad and Tobago and needy families in Toronto.

Callender recalled that despite Pierre’s illness she  continued to volunteer with the Festival Management Committee which runs the Toronto Caribbean  carnival, taking home her lists to ensure correctness of information while lying on her bed.”

She leaves a daughter, Giselle.

Funeral arrangements for Lystra Pierre will be announced shortly.