Wyness, (nee Reid), Alison (1912-2000)

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

Alison followed her graduation from VGH in 1933 with a BASc in nursing from UBC the following year.  Her initial position at Ottawa Civic Hospital ended when a diagnosis of tuberculosis led to required rest.  She resumed nursing at VGH in 1935, becoming an instructor from 1938 until her marriage in 1941.  During the war she taught Red Cross Home Nursing, and War and Emergencies in Brownsburg, Quebec.

She became active in volunteer work on her return to Vancouver in 1945.  A member of the Vancouver General Hospital School of Nursing Alumnae Association, she helped to plan Alumnae Manor for retired VGH nurses.  She was Chair of the Arrangements Committee for the 1950 Canadian Nurses Association Biennial Convention held in Vancouver.

Recognition in her later life included Life Memberships in the VGH School of Nursing Association and in the United Church Women.  Throughout her life she was deeply committed to the idea of developing the complete nurse.  In furtherance of that goal she endowed the Reid-Wyness Graduate Scholarship in Nursing at UBC.

Contents of Biographical File

  1. Transcript of interview, May 1, 1993.
  2. Biography by M. Anne Wyness, December 2010.
  3. Timeline
  4. Articles by Wyness
    1. “The Shrine of Nursing Today Is the Home Front”, Nurses Annual, 1943, p. 25.
    2. “Vancouver by the Sea”, The Canadian Nurse, June 1950, pp. 439-448.
    3. “Arrangements Committee”, The Canadian Nurse, 46 (5), May 1950, 378-379.
    4. “Graduate Nursing Students Reap the Rewards”, UBC Gift Planner, January
  5. Obituary by Ethel Warbinek
  6. Photograph
  7. Amazing Alumni Stories, UBC School of Nursing