This Ontario woman dedicated years to counting Canada's monarchs. Now, she's gone

If you ask those who knew Darlene Burgess best what they'll remember when they think of her, many of them will say the same thing: her love of monarch butterflies. 

At Point Pelee National Park — Canada's most southern mainland point not far from Leamington, Ont., — Darlene could be found at sunset looking up at the trees. Her eyes would scan the branches while her hands pressed a clicker, keeping track of the number of monarchs she saw. 

She did this every night in September, and sometimes part of October, for about seven years. She was fond of the butterflies and wanted to help track the population, which has struggled at points from habitat loss and extreme weather. 

Point Pelee is where monarch butterflies gather before crossing Lake Erie during their southern migration. Their destination is more than 3,000 kilometres away, in a mountainous Mexican forest. 

While counting them might sound like a solo activity, anyone who happened to ask Darlene what she was up to became enraptured with her knowledge and love for the little colourful insects. 

Many of those same people would take to social media this fall, wondering where Darlene was or noting that this season felt different without her. 

Darlene was born on March 18, 1956 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. 

"Right from when she was a little girl, she was fascinated [with nature]. She had a pet chipmunk," said Ken Burgess, Darlene's husband. 

The two met as teens and soon got married. They raised two kids and lived in different parts of the province. 

After taking a trip to Hawaii for their 25th wedding anniversary, the pair decided to take a longer-term adventure. In 2001, they packed up their belongings and moved to Maui, Hawaii for nine years. 

"I don't know if I've ever seen anybody so happy about her surroundings on Maui," Ken said, adding that she loved learning about horses and would soon own some of her own. 

Eventually the couple wanted to be close to family again and decided to move back to southwestern Ontario. They found a home in Leamington, just outside of Point Pelee National Park. 

That was where Darlene got hooked on monarchs. 

"Part of her connection to nature, specifically animals [or insects], was that she wanted to be a voice for them, they couldn't speak for themselves ... so she wanted to stand up for them," said Darlene's daughter, Jill Burgess-Megler.