Florence (Danby) Paterson

Florence Paterson passed away peacefully on February 11, 2022 in the loving embrace of her family at the Glebe Centre in Ottawa.  She was the beloved wife of the late Jack Paterson (2007); inspiring mother to Isla Paterson, Ruth Bickerstaffe (Roy), Joy Stewart (Jack) and Dawn Paterson (John Parry); and devoted grandmother to Jacquelynne Stewart, Shannon Francis (Brent), Jane Tait (Dan), Carol Bickerstaffe, Owen Parry (Emmy Pierce), Philip Lica (Barbra) and Hilary McCormick (Drew) and great grandmother to Ethan, Mikyla, Troy, Zachary, Lincoln, Evan, Cooper and Oliver.   She will be dearly missed by everyone who knew and loved her.

Born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan to an unwed mother, Florence was adopted by the local Chief of Police, Arthur Danby and his wife Sarah – instantly acquiring two older brothers (in their mid twenties).   She lived the first year of her life in the upstairs apartment of a three-storey police building with the municipal court, police offices and city jail below. In 1924, Mr. Danby resigned, moving his family to Wakaw,  a small farming community 30 miles south where he purchased the twelve-room Wakaw Hotel. When Florence was five (1928), Sarah died of cancer, leaving her to grow up in the busy hotel – essentially cared for by the women employed there.

Florence often said that the church was her mother.  The local church she attended was then led by Lydia Gruchy, the first woman to be ordained in the United Church (and in Canada). She provided progressive leadership and a positive female role model. The church also gave Florence a sense of community –  of belonging and contributing –  as she participated in the choir, Canadian Girls in Training (CGIT), summer camps, and the special dinners that included the Eastern European immigrant families that had founded Wakaw in 1911.  From the church, she also acquired a sense of the wider world and the importance of service to others when visiting missionaries shared their photos  and stories of their postings in China, Japan, India and Africa.

Arthur “Chief”  Danby, an ardent Methodist, who loved music and singing, signed his daughter up for piano lessons from the nearby Catholic sisters at age six when she started school (1929). At seventeen (1940), when her father died, Florence moved to Prince Albert to live with the Millers (family friends) to complete high school. She also attained the  Royal Conservatory of Music Teacher’s Certificate that year (1941) and received a scholarship to the University of Saskatchewan where she lived in residence for two years, ultimately finishing her BA in Psychology/Sociology at the University of British Columbia (1944).  At university, Florence joined the choir and the Student Christian Movement (SCM) while maintaining her scholarship standing.  She also formed meaningful female friendships which she retained throughout her life.

After summer work for the church in Falkland BC (North Okanagan Valley), Florence was awarded a scholarship to the Centre for Christian Studies in Toronto (formerly the United Church Training School) affiliated with Emmanuel College. After graduating as a deaconess (May 1945), she was assigned to a church in Major, Saskatchewan where for two years she was responsible for Sunday sermons, pastoral care and church programs in three farming communities.

While Florence was studying in Toronto, she met Jack Paterson, an Emmanuel College theological student, at a Student Christian Movement camp. He recruited her to play the piano while he called square dances. Early in their friendship, Jack told Florence that “If you’re looking for a husband, don’t look at me”.    Famous last words!! They married in 1946, and for sixty years they were a wonderful couple raising a family, managing dual careers through the ups and downs of marriage. They danced with love, generosity, compassion and a zest for life.

Florence handled the complex role of being a minister’s wife for the first five years of her married life, after which Jack began a succession of different careers, ultimately taking the family to live in ten different locations in Canada.    As she raised her four daughters – Isla (1948), Ruth (1951), Joy (1953) and Dawn (1957) –  Florence  built on the strengths of her youth. She was an active volunteer and leader/trainer, whether in kindergarten (at her home), the church, the Women’s Institute, youth groups (notably the CGIT), summer camps (including as a cook for 150 people), groups dedicated to social justice, peace and the environment or the Board of the YWCA.  Florence always had a piano in her home. Music, especially singing together, has been (and is) an important part of Paterson family life.

In 1955, while living in Rosslyn village outside of Thunder Bay, Florence with two of her friends stirred up interest to purchase a one-room school (which Isla had attended for one year) to establish a church.    The women helped to raise the down payment to purchase the property.    The church – Pinegrove United, still exists today.

In 1970, Florence graduated from the University of Toronto with her Masters of Social Work, fulfilling a long time goal she had set aside when she married. She continued in her professional career, working for Children’s Aid in adoptions, child protection, as well as developing programs for single mothers until Jack retired in 1979. After that they bought a trailer home to live on the Thomas’s hobby farm in Mono Mills,  reuniting with their friends from Rosslyn.    In 1983, they moved to the West End of Vancouver so Florence could be close to her birth mother, whom she had identified in later life as one of the women who had cared for her at the hotel.

After her birth mother died (1986), she joined her  husband (and friends) in travel adventures across Canada and the United States in a Recreational Vehicle (RV). They often landed in friends and family members driveways to camp for a few days or weeks. In 1994, they gave up their gypsy life, settling into a downtown apartment close to Stanley Park, where Florence resumed her church and community activities. Shortly following Jack’s death (2007), she moved to Ottawa, where she contributed to her residential community with her piano playing, singing, bridge games and outgoing ways  as long as her faculties permitted.

Florence deeply loved her family, valuing and cultivating family life and traditions. She brought  richness and beauty to the family home, even when there were limited means. She loved being aunt to the nieces and nephews of Jack’s extended family. She believed in supporting her daughters and grandchildren to reach for their potential as shown by her attending sports games, music concerts, school events, competitions, graduations, overseas postings and family gatherings. Over her lifetime, Florence became a skilled weaver, seamstress, cinnamon bun maker par excellence (as judged by Jack) – she used extraordinary quilting skills to make each daughter and grandchild a prized and unique bed cover.

Florence approached life positively, looking for the good in everyone,  joining with others to bring about a more just world. Throughout her life, she nurtured and sustained her evolving Christian faith by attending lectures, study groups and continually reading the latest thinking by biblical scholars. Her library contained books by Bishop Spong, Dominic Crossan, and Marcus Borg, alongside those that challenged her faith in the 1960s: The Comfortable Pew by Pierre Burton (1965) and Honest to God by J. R. Robinson (1963).

Florence loved walking and being in nature, visiting botanical gardens and camping with her family across Canada.    She could identify many types of wildflowers and birds. She enjoyed spending summers at the Wing’s family cottage on Arrow Lake, and later travelling with these dear friends in Canada, the US, Mexico and the UK over a period of ten years (1987-1997). Her travels also led her to Japan (1970), Italy & Nigeria (1973), Bermuda (1974), Cuba (1987), Costa Rica & Nicaragua (1989) and Slovenia (1989).  Florence was curious about the culture, history and uniqueness of each county and its people, easily meeting and engaging with strangers as if they were long-lost friends.

Florence was affected by advanced dementia in her later years, even though she was basically healthy, taking only vitamins and pain medication for her arthritis, even surviving COVID in October 2020 before vaccines became available. Florence was blessed with exceptional nurses,  personal support workers (PSWs), support staff and three care companions at her final home, Ottawa’s Glebe Centre where she lived for six years (October 2015 until February 2022).  She died in her 99th year, three months before she would have celebrated her 99th birthday.

In lieu of flowers, a donation to honour Florence can be made to the Glebe Centre, Eco-Justice or the Stephen Lewis Foundation. A funeral and celebration of her life will take place at 10 a.m. on Saturday, August 6, 2022 at Knox United Church, 25 Gibbard Road, Ottawa, Ontario  K2G 3T9. Refreshments to follow at the church where family and friends can share their stories of this one-of-a kind woman.  Please RSVP to Dawn at dlgpaterson@sympatico.ca if you plan to attend or have any questions.

Hers was a life well lived.