Lynn Hargreaves makes a Planned Gift to establish the Norma Hargreaves Memorial Nursing Bursary, in honour of her mother. Lynn shares her mother’s story.
My mother was born in Smiths Falls, Ont., in September, 1933. Her parents purchased a feed and general store in Westport, Ont., moving the family to the village when Norma was just two years old. Norma excelled academically in her grade-school years and high school.
In 1952, Norma followed the career path of her mother, Blanche (nee Bauder) Genge, (Kingston General Hospital School of Nursing 1917), and enrolled in , then run concurrently with the Queen’s University Bachelor of Nursing Science program. She arrived on campus in the fall of 1952, living on Floor 3 of Ban Righ Hall. Her academic excellence continued in the program. She was awarded the Silver Pin in recognition of her attaining the second-highest average in her 1955 graduating class.
Norma met her husband-to-be, Doug Hargreaves, B.A.’60, LLD 2012, while attending the university. They married and began a family. Once their three daughters were old enough, Norma returned to her nursing career, joining the KGH Neonatal Unit in the late 1960s. She continued nursing in the Neonatal unit of the Issac Walter Killam Health Centre while the family was living in Halifax, N.S., in the early 1970s.
Once Doug accepted his new position at Queen’s in 1976, Norma returned to KGH, working in various clinics in what was then the Fraser Armstrong Patient Centre, until her retirement in 1993.
Her desire to help people didn’t stop upon retirement. Norma joined the KGH Auxiliary. For more than 20 years, Norma could be seen answering questions at the Help Desk by the main entrance to the hospital.
Not to be forgotten would be the demands my mother faced as a wife and mother of three. Norma managed 12 household moves over her lifetime, between Doug’s military postings and civilian career changes. She was the proverbial “strong woman” a man needs to succeed. My father would never have been able to achieve the things he did if not for her steadfast, loyal and loving support over 60 years of marriage.
The establishment of the Norma Hargreaves Memorial Nursing Bursary will ensure her desire to help people will be carried on for years to come in her memory.
To learn more about remembering Queen's with a lasting legacy in support of the causes you care about most, please contact the Gift Planning team.
