SUPERIOR NORTH EMS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Accounting and Records Assistant
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- Sustainability Coordinator
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- Superintendent ( Acting )
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- Scheduling and Records Assistant
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- Member of the Board of Directors
Betty Kennedy's career of civil service and community leadership spans more than three decades, during which she has become a leading figure in numerous organizations and sat on multiple committees. Known for her advocacy of civil rights surrounding poverty, children, and Aboriginal issues, her influence has shaped local and provincial organizations and brought important social issues to public awareness. After a formal education in sociology and social work, Kennedy spent her life engaging societal issues within and alongside a variety of organizations. A partial list of her partners includes the Thunder Bay Regional Hospital, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the Ontario Non Profit Housing Association, and the Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centers. Though diverse in aims and scope, each of these groups shared Kennedy's goal of supporting struggling Canadians.
Concurrent with much of her social work was Betty Kennedy's long position on Thunder Bay's City Council, representing McKellar ward. From 1983 to 2003, she successfully advocated for social and economic development to assist those most in need and her constituents as a whole.
Her most recent efforts include heading Ontario Native Women's Association from spring 2010 to fall 2013, after which she transferred over to lead the affiliated Ontario Native Women's Charitable Foundation. On November 2012, Betty Kennedy was honoured for her efforts to improve Canada and the lives of Canadians with the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Award. She continues to act for equality and happiness in Ontario, and serves as role model for activists through the province.
Civic Beautification Awards Banquet held at the St. Joseph's Heritage. Ald. Sterling Lysnes is the gentleman seated on the left and Ald. Betty Kennedy is the woman seated on the right. City of Thunder Bay Archives 2001-25-5
Job Titles:
- Superintendent, Administrative Services
Catherine Seppala was the first and only woman to serve as Mayor of Fort William. She won three elections as a Councillor before running and winning the Mayoral race in 1959. As one of few female politicians at that time, she faced sexist criticism, but countered during her 1953 campaign, "A woman who can run a modern home can contribute to council service." She was one of three women elected to council that year, and all three continued to serve together until Seppala became Mayor.
Charlotte was the Honorary Chief and Patron of the MacGillivray Pipe Band. The band was a gift to her from her loving father on the occasion of her birth in 1917. After finishing her formal schooling, Charlotte began a modeling career in London. She was among the earliest models to be photographed rather than sketched, and appeared in ads in magazines such as Mayfair, Town & Country and Vogue. She ended her modeling career soon after meeting Francis X. Murphy, whom she married at Saint Patrick's Rectory on July 17, 1940. Upon the death of Mr. Murphy in 1958, Charlotte was the first woman member of the Canadian Press for many years. Charlotte was President and owner of the Fort William Times Journal and also President and owner of the James Murphy Coal and Oil Company.
Charlotte Macgillivray retained ownership of the designated heritage property known as the Murphy Mansion until 1986. Charlotte was well known for her many charitable works, among them Saint Joseph's Orphanage, The Thunder Bay Historical Museum, McKellar Hospital, Port Arthur General Hospital, Saint Andrew's Presbyterian Church, and the Frank Murphy Recreational Centre. St. Patrick's Cathedral has a beautiful, large stained glass window dedicated in loving memory of Frank X. Murphy and his family. In the early 1950's, Charlotte was instrumental in having children with cerebral palsy recognized and started a school for them which was in the Baptist Church at Brodie and Donald Streets.
MacGillivray-Amar passed away at the age 97 at her residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on April 25, 2015. She is survived by her husband Leon Amar.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Chief ( Acting ), EMS City Operations
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the EAC
- Councillor
Job Titles:
- Superintendent, EMS District Operations - Northshore Cluster
Job Titles:
- Superintendent, EMS City Operations
Job Titles:
- Superintendent - Logistics
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- Treasurer of the Board of Directors
Job Titles:
- First Secretary - Treasurer for the New Port Arthur General Hospital
Born in England in 1877, Dorothea spent her younger years in Bombay, India being educated as a colonial elite. Her mother also encouraged participation in untraditional activities for young girls: carpentry, marksmanship and riding. With the death of her father in the 1890's, Dorothea became provider for her mother and a sister. Realizing the limited opportunity in England, Dorothea immigrated to Canada in 1904.
After settling in Toronto, Dorothea Mitchell left in 1909 to take a position as companion-help in Silver Mountain. She remained and served as station master at Silver Mountain Station and ran a sawmill, which earned her the nickname Lady Lumberjack. She became the first woman to be granted a Homestead, although it was only 79 acres rather than the usual 160 as she was not married.
Moving to Port Arthur in 1921, Dorothea worked as a teacher and as an accountant. A proficient photographer and ardent writer, she co-founded the first amateur film group in Canada: the Port Arthur Amateur Cinema Society. The society produced the first Canadian feature-length film by non-professionals: "A Race for Ties" based on Dorothea's experience with a crooked lumber dealer.
In 1930, Mitchell became the first secretary-treasurer for the new Port Arthur General Hospital. She had taken over a real estate and accounting business in Port Arthur and was also involved in St. John's Anglican Church and the Imperial Order of Daughters of the Empire in Port Arthur.
In 1939, at the age of 63, Mitchell enlisted in the Red Cross Society and worked in the transportation corps and the office of Voluntary Registration of Canadian women at the onset of World War II. She continued working for the military, helping the dependents of servicemen as well as aiding British orphans until she retired to the West Coast in 1941.
Petrone is a well known surname in the Thunder Bay area, due at least in part to Dr. Penny Serafina Petrone. As a writer, educator, and philanthropist, she left a lasting legacy on Canadian literature. Born in 1925 in Port Arthur, she attended St. Joseph's School and Port Arthur Collegiate Institute before receiving a doctorate in English Literature from the University of Alberta.
Dr. Petrone wrote five books and spent a lifetime of scholarly study on Canadian, Indigenous, and Italian works of prose. Her first two books focused on Indigenous literature, and Native Literature in Canada in particular was the first full book length history surveying the writings of Canada's Indigenous people. For these accomplishments, she was made an honorary chief by the Gull Bay First Nations.2 Her latter three books focused on more personal matters, recalling her life and teaching career in the north; the last was only finished in the final months of her life.
Dr. Petrone's contributions to writing and culture have been honoured by many different groups and organizations. She received the Corporation of the City of Thunder Bay Citizens of Exceptional Achievement Awards in 1981, 1984, and 1989, and multiple other medals and honours between 1981 and 2004, including the Order of Ontario.3
Even after her passing, Dr. Petrone's life and influence linger across the city. Magnus Theatre is now known in full as Magnus Theatre - The Dr. S. Penny Petrone Centre for the Performing Arts, in honour of her contributions to the arts. The facility housing the Northern Ontario School of Medicine's west campus also bears her name as thanks for providing over a million dollars in scholarships and bursaries for Lakehead students.4
Dusty Miller's involvement with the municipal government of Thunder Bay stemmed from her advocacy for the arts. Although her career change from the arts community to municipal politics seems like a stark transition, to her it was quite natural. In an interview with Paula Thiessen of Bayview Magazine, Miller stated, "I ran for council deliberately because I always had to go to council for assistance. I thought it wouldn't hurt to have some kind of spokesperson who could speak knowledgeably about the arts. I have to say that the councils of Thunder Bay were quite open." In 1974, Miller became an alderman.
Upon realizing that the city's government lacked expertise in arts and culture, and having only been a member of council for four years, Miller decided to run for Mayor. Concurrently, Miller was instrumental in developing an arts policy for the city: she was the first chair of the city's Arts and Heritage Committee, and also served on standing committees for family and children's services, non-profit housing, and architectural conservation. In 1978, she was elected, and Dusty Miller became Thunder Bay's first female Mayor, post amalgamation. She served from 1978-1980. After her mayoral term, Miller left politics. Five years later, she returned as a City Councillor and served the city until 1991.
Miller was born and raised in Fort William, moved away for a time, and returned to the Lakehead in 1954. It was then that she became involved in community development, specifically with the local theatre community. For nine years, she served as the Artistic Director for Cambrian Players (then the Port Arthur Community Players), directing twenty-six plays and nine musicals. She helped Burton Lancaster set up Magnus Theatre. She taught theatre and television arts in local high schools, designed and co-directed the drama program for the Fine Arts Division at Lakehead University, and taught courses in the Performing Arts Management Program at Confederation College. She also participated as a founding member of Theatre Ontario, and was part of a group of people that established the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium.
Some of Miller's awards include the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal, Canada 125 Medal, Northwestern Ontario Business Award for Influential Women, the Maggie Bassett Award, the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium President's Award, the Order of Ontario, Lakehead University Alumni Honour Award and Lakehead University Fellow.
Elizabeth Smellie was the second of four daughters of pioneer doctor and Member of Parliament Thomas S.T. Smellie and his wife Janet Lawrie. With an austere and strictly disciplined upbringing, Elizabeth had her father's missionary zeal, real bearing and strong will. Despite her father's opposition to her ambition to become a nurse she applied to John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, graduating in 1909. After serving briefly as a night nurse at McKellar General Hospital, Beth, as she was known, went to Detroit to pursue a career as a private nurse. Enlisting in 1914, she went to England as a lieutenant with the Royal Canadian Medical Corps. Acknowledged for her work, she received the Royal Red Cross by King George V at Buckingham Palace. She continued with work in Ottawa, teaching at McGill and serving as Chief Superintendent with the Victorian Order of Nurses, expanding the order across Canada. In 1940 she returned to the military as matron in chief helping to organize the Canadian Women's Army Corps. Promoted to Colonel in 1944, she was the first woman achieve that rank in the Canadian Army.
Job Titles:
- Superintendent, EMS City Operations
Job Titles:
- Deputy Chief, EMS District Operations
Eunice Marian Knight was born in Utica, New York in 1898, and moved to Port Arthur (around 1904) as a young girl to live with her aunt and uncle after the death of her parents. In 1922 she married John Wishart, and in 1940 she started to make her way into politics by running for alderman (placing thirteenth out of fifteen; in 1948, she placed fourth out of twenty). Upon her election as alderman in 1948, Wishart declared, "I felt for a long time there was a place on the council for a woman's outlook."[i] She was known for her ability to always be in the centre of a controversy, and she was determined to make a place for women in politics.
During her time as mayor, Wishart implemented many positive changes in the city, such as developing a civic reserve fund, implementing cheaper parking, acquiring a squatters' area beside Lake Superior, constructing a sewage disposal plant, beginning the reassessment of property values, and securing cheap natural gasoline for the city.[ii] She was in office for three terms before retiring from politics "to give the men a chance."[iii]
Outside of politics, Wishart was also deeply involved in her community as a member of multiple organizations. She was the director of many committees, including Port Arthur Cancer Unit, the YMCA, the John Howard Society, and Canadian Children's Health League. During the Second World War, she served as a chairperson on the women's committee of the Wartime Prices and Trade Board, and a member of the Dependents Allowance Board. As an advocator of women, Wishart was the Vice-President of the National Council of Women, the Convener of Economics for the Provincial Council of Women for Ontario, a member of the Fort William - Port Arthur Soroptimists, and director of the Canadian Tourist Association and Women's Institute. Wishart believed "that as women receive added privileges, they assume added responsibility,"[iv] and she portrayed that belief in her own life through her participation and dedication in various organizations.
Adapted from ‘Powley became lawyer in 1902' by Meghan Dunn, 29 November 2015, from the Thunder Bay Museum's Looking Back series in the Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal.
Job Titles:
- Archives and Records Centre Mailing Address
Job Titles:
- Superintendent ( Acting ), EMS District Operations - Greenstone Cluster
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
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- Climate Adaptation Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Superintendent, EMS City Operations
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- Commander ( Acting ) Community Safety & Planning
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- Member of the Board of Directors
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- Formerly United Way Executive Director
Joanne Kembel, formerly United Way Executive Director, notes that "…she was always encouraging, inspiring, motivating, and teaching me. Whenever I asked for her help, she gave it generously, without hesitation… Not only was she very intelligent, representing our community admirably, but she was also a ton of fun to be with... She had an inquisitive mind, had a visionary approach to problem solving, and a capacity to adapt complex approaches to work locally. Her enthusiasm was contagious and her belief anything is possible inspiring."
Job Titles:
- Superintendent, EMS District Operations - Western Cluster
Job Titles:
- Superintendent, EMS City Operations
Job Titles:
- Administrative Assistant - EMS
Job Titles:
- Medium Business Representative
Lisa was born and raised in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and started her CBC career there. But when she came to Thunder Bay in 1992, Lisa Laco found a new home, and the city had gained a new champion.
Job Titles:
- Accounting and Records Assistant
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- Thunder Bay Environment Division Manager
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- Small Business Representative
Job Titles:
- Superintendent, EMS City Operations
Job Titles:
- Superintendent, EMS District Operations - Nipigon Cluster
Job Titles:
- Secretary of the Board of Directors
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- Chairman of the Board of Directors
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- Member of the Board of Directors
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Mayor Seppala, some Councillors and others, likely members of the Royal Visit Committee, when Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited Canada, and Fort William, for the opening of the St Lawrence Seaway, July 1959. City of Thunder Bay Archives 1990-17-50
Job Titles:
- Large Business Representative
Job Titles:
- Training Support Coordinator