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Bonnie Laura McClung Cappuccino |
Born 1934, St Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A. She
trained as a registered nurse. She married and had two children and then her
family grew even more with 19 adopted children. In 1985 she founded and
became director of Child Haven International which is a non-profit
charitable organization. The organization helps destitute children and women
throughout the world. They maintain four children's homes in India, one in
Nepal, one in Tibet and one in Bangladesh. Bonnie travels to each of the
children's homes four times a years. For her efforts she has been awarded
the Ontario Citizenship Medal in 1985, the Canada Volunteer Award in 1986
the UNESCO Prize for teaching of Human Rights in 1998. She and her husband
Fred were the 1st Canadians to win this award. In 1996 they both received
the Order of Canada. |
Isabella Binney
Cogswell |
Born July 6, 1819, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Died December 6, 1874, Halifax,
Nova Scotia. Isabella
learned quickly and had a strong interest in finances which she may have
inherited from her well known banker father. Her humanitarian inspiration
may have come from being close to her brother William. After the death of
her father she devoted life to bettering the educational and living
conditions of the pour and disadvantaged of Halifax. Her work was mainly in
support of such institutions as the Halifax Protestant Industrial School for
Reformed Boys. She also endowed homes for the aged and church society. She
was a patron of St Paul’s Alms House of Industry for Girls and her work and
contributions were recorded in the various annual reports of this
institution from 1858 through 1865. It was her business acumen that allowed
to manage her family inheritance that put her in a position to carry out
her desired charitable work and financial donations.
Source:
D C B Vol. X p. 182 |
Ermine Joy Cohen |
née Bernstein.
Born July 23, 1926, Saint John, New Brunswick. Died February
15, 2019, Saint John, New Brunswick. Erminie attended Mount Allison
University. In 1948 she married Edgar R. Cohen and the couple had three
children. She worked along side of her husband in a family ladies Fashion
store for 50 years. In the 1970's she was a founding member of the Saint
John Women for Action, She would be a founding member and served on the
Board for the Hestia House. As well she was Chair of Opera New Brunswick and
Chair of the New Brunswick Adoption Foundation Board. The Salvation Army
presented her a Humanitarian Service Award as did the Red Cross. She earned
being a Paul Harris Fellow from the Rotary Club. She was appointed to the
Senate of Canada to represent New Brunswick in 1993. She retired in 2001.
She was a Member of the Order of Canada. (2019) |
Carol Ann Cole |
Born March 28. She has
written a couple of books including "Comfort Hearts". Maclean's Magazine
recognized her as one of 12 outstanding Canadians in 1998. Among the many
awards she hold are the Terry Fox Citation of Honour, the YWCA Women's
Recognition Award and the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal. In 2001 she became a
member of the Order of Canada |
Lotta Hitschmanova |
Born November 28, 1909, Prague, Bohemia (now
Czech Republic). Died August 1, 1990, Ottawa, Ontario.
Lotta enrolled in 1929 at the University of Prague and excelled at
languages earning diplomas in Czech, German, English, French, and
Spanish. In 1932 she was in France studying political Science and
journalism at the Sorbonne in Paris. In 1935 she was back in
Prague working as a freelance journalist and earning her Doctorate
Degree (PhD) at Prague University. It was however her first hand view of
the horrors of life in war torn Europe of World War ll (1939-1945) that would affect the rest of her
life. She left her home and eventually settled in Brussels, Belgium. While
in France she worked with an immigration service assisting refugees.
One day at the Market in Marseille she fainted from fatigue and
hunger and made her way to a medical clinic run by the Unitarian
Service Committee (U S C). By 1945 she would make the U S C her
life's mission and work. She emigrated to Canada and was founder in
June 1945 and a tireless worker of the Unitarian Service Committee
of Canada (now SeedChange). She served as the first chairperson
until 1949. In 1948 it cut its association with the Unitarian Church
and became an independent organization with Lotta as executive
director raising funds as a registered charity. In 1949 she
spearheaded a foster parent program allowing Canadian to sponsor a
child and receive a photo and story of that child. Always
attired in the uniform of an army nurse with a military-style hat,
Lotta traveled annually to strife-torn and poor area of the world
searching out villages in need of Canadian assistance to recover
from war, natural disaster, disease, and poverty. Her background in
journalism brought he into notice by world press. Internationally she was recognized for her
works with humanitarian awards from France, Korea, Greece, India, and her
adopted Canadian homeland with the Order of Canada. In 1970 she published a
book, The USC Story: a Quarter Century of Loving Service.
1n 1972 the U S C produced a film, The USC Story, showing
film clips of Lotta's travel over 25 years. People who are presented
with awards often wear a small coloured ribbon signifying their award. Dr
Hitschmanova had five rows of ribbons to wear!!!! She retired in 1982
because of ill health. Her 'Uniform' is preserved at the Canadian
War Museum in Ottawa. Vernon Burrows, a scientist in oat research,
has named one of his new varieties after Lotta, ACLotta. In 2002 the
U S C Canada founded the Lotta Hitschmanova Endowment Fund to
collect funds to support programs. . (20204 |
Evelyn Horne |
Born February 23, 1907, Truro, Nova Scotia.
Died March 21, 2005, Ottawa, Ontario. Evelyn started her working career as a teacher in a one
room school in Halifax, Nova Scotia. While working in the office of the Provincial
Secretary she caught the attention of Prime Minister Mackenzie King
(1874-1950) in 1941
and she moved to Ottawa to work in the PM's secretariat. She would later
serve in the Department of Citizenship and Immigration and the National Film
Board retiring at the age of 69. By the age 74 she was working as acting
Director of the Canadian Hearing Society. After her retirement she was also
president of the Youth Services Bureau as well as a long-standing and
forceful member of the Quota Club of Ottawa. She was presented with the
Caring Canadian Award by the Governor General of Canada and a Community
Builder Award from the United way and a Living legend Award from the Quota
Club. (2024) |
Margaret McTavish Konantz |
née Rogers. Born April 30, 1899, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Died May 11, 1967. As a young woman she was a founding member and
president of the Junior League of Winnipeg and in 1933 she was the Canadian
representative the the Junior League of America. In 1936 she was the chair
of the Manitoba campaign of child-care division of the Canadian Welfare
Council. During world War ll (1939-1945) she worked on the home front in the Patriotic
Salvage Corps, Bundles for Britain and the Women's Volunteer Services in
Western Canada. For her war efforts she was awarded with the Order of the
British Empire. After the death of her husband in 1954, she devoted herself
even more to her humanitarian work visiting Asia on behalf of UNICEF. She
turned successfully to politics and in 1963 became the
first woman from
Manitoba to be elected to the House of Commons in Ottawa. In
1965 she became the national chair of the UNICEF Committee and traveled to
Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Pilippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Indai,
Pakistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Ghana, Nigeria, Sourth Africa,
Rhodesia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and the United Arab Republic. |
Anne Molson |
née Molson. Born
April 8, 1824,
Quebec. Died
January 3, 1899. She married her cousin John Molson, June 9, 1895. They
would have three children that survived infancy. In 1864 she suggested an
award and designed a medal to be given to the best student in Physics,
Mathematics and Physical Sciences at McGill College. Perhaps it was this
event which called her to lobby to have women students at McGill. She became
the 1st President of the Montreal Ladies Educational Association which was
founded in May 1871. She would see women accepted at McGill in 1884. She was
also active in the Montreal Ladies Benevolent Society and the Montreal
Society of Decorative Arts. There is not much in the way of written accounts
of Anne Molson as she left no diaries and there is little detail provided in
Molson family archives. |
Pauline Vanier |
née Archer. Born
1898, Montreal,
Quebec. Died March 1991.Her training as wife and mother of 5 children
was used outside of the home as a Red Cross volunteer in Paris during and
after the Second World War. She is one of the few Canadians to have been honoured by France for her services with the Jacques Cartier Medal. Her
husband, Georges Vanier, was also honoured by France for his services during
the war. Pauline would support her husband in all of his diplomatic postings
abroad and as "First Lady" of Canada when Georges served as Governor General
of Canada. A widow and in her 70's, she moved to France where she worked
with her famous son and institution he founded called L'Arche, a refuge for
the mentally handicapped. Canada Post issued a commemorative stamp
commemorating Pauline Vanier and Elizabeth Smellie as part of the Millennium
series January 17, 2000.
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