Kathleen was born in Kemptville, Ontario, in 1906. From an early age, she had a real knack with children that led her to pursue her teaching certification in 1925.
Certificate in hand, Kathleen began teaching in a small, one-room schoolhouse, filled with students from grade one all the way to grade eight. She spent two years moulding minds and teaching the values of compassion, duty, and looking out for one another.
Her keen interest in children only grew in that time and Kathleen decided to take it a step further. She moved to Guelph, where she completed a degree in Household Science in 1929 that enabled her to work as a dietician at Sick Kids in Toronto before resuming her teaching career in Home Economics.
The work was challenging for Kathleen – but also deeply satisfying. While it broke her heart to see little ones suffering so much, it also drove her to do her very best to give them whatever small comfort she could.
In fact, the injustice of small children starting life with such a disadvantage – of lives filled with promise, cut short all too soon by disease – never left her. And it’s what inspired this centenarian to leave a gift in her will that could aid in the training of nurses who wish to specialize in neo-natal care.
Kathleen spent her lifetime dedicated to nurturing our next generation. And that legacy will last for many lifetimes more, thanks to her legacy gift to The Ottawa Hospital.