DuGas, Beverly (1923-2012)

See Oral History files, Fonds 18, Series 3, Subseries 8

See also CD collection nos. 10-26 for interviews of Beverly DuGas by Jill Thompson.

bevdugasmedalBeverly Witter DuGas was born in Vancouver, receiving her B.A. from UBC in 1944 and her Diploma from the Vancouver General Hospital School of Nursing in 1945. She continued her studies at the University of Washington in Seattle, receiving aMaster of Science Degree in 1947.

Her work as a staff nurse and instructor at Seattle, San Francisco and Vancouver led to her becoming Director of the School of Nursing at Vancouver General Hospital in 1960. In 1965 she accepted a request from the World Health Organization to set up a post-basic baccalaureate program for graduate nurses in India. After receiving her Doctor of Education from UBC in 1969, she joined Health and Welfare Canada as a nursing consultant. She later took numerous assignments as a consultant in Surinam, Manila, Ghana, Korea, Tonga and other countries. In 1972 she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Windsor.

In 1982 she joined the faculty of the School of Nursing at the University of Ottawa. After retirement from being Director of Ottawa’s School of Nursing in 1989, she acted as a consultant in Fiji, China and the Philippines.

Her extensive publications include her textbook Introduction to Patient Care used in forty countries and the co-authored nursing text, Promoting Healthy Aging. Two books recount her travels and work in India, and she has numerous professional publications. She was a founding President of the BC History of Nursing group of the RNABC.

She has raised four children, mostly as a single parent. She was made a member of the Order of BC in 1999, and a member of the Order of Canada in 2001.

Contents of biographical file

  1. Biographical Information Profile
  2. Curriculum Vitae
  3. Biography from “1940’s Amazing Alumni Stories” on Internet
  4. “Candidates for Vice-President,” The Canadian Nurse (1972), p. 28.
  5. “Candidates for President elect”, The Canadian Nurse (1974), 70 (4), p. 22.
  6. “Names,” The Canadian Nurse (June 1973), p. 44.
  7. Beverley W. DuGas (biography)
  8. Supporting materials for DuGas’ nomination to The Order of Canada.
  9. Colour photograph
  10. Obituary by Ethel Warbinek, BC History of Nursing Society (Spring 2013), pp. 1-2.
  11. Fitzpatrick, Beth. “Remembering Beverly DuGas”, BC History of Nursing Society (Spring 2013), p. 4.
  12. Supporting materials for DuGas’ nomination to the Order of British Columbia (1999)
  13. “A Home of Our Own”, Nursing BC, Nov.-Dec. 1999 (31, No. 5), p.9.
  14. Card and note to Sheila Zerr, July 13, 2000.
  15. “We Celebrate with Beverly DuGas,” History of Nursing News, October 2003, pp.1.
  16. Memorial Service Program
  17. Transcript of tribute
  18. Obituary from The Globe and Mail, November 24, 2012, p.S19.