Categories: I-J-K

Kilpatrick, Heather (1908-2000)

Born in Revelstoke, Heather moved to Vancouver with her family in 1923.  She graduated from UBC with her BA in 1928, and from VGH in nursing in 1930.  The next year she received her BASc in nursing and the BC Government Award in Public Health Nursing.  Following graduation, she was staff nurse, later supervisor at the Cowichan Health Centre. From 1937 to 1939 she attended the University of Toronto, where she was awarded a Masters  in Public Health Nursing.

As BC’s first Director of Public Health Nursing, she enhanced public health through such activities as preschool immunization programs and well-baby clinics.  Her monthly newsletter, Public Health Nursing, fostered collegiality and communication among nurses.

In 1945 she joined the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration and was stationed in Greece.  On her return the next year she was appointed nurse-in-charge of the Outpatient Department at Shaughnessy Hospital 1946-1971.  In her retirement she continued her love of sewing, creating treasured handicrafts for family members and supported many charities.

Contents of Biographical File

1. Nomination to the RNABC Memorial Book
2. Four photographs from her niece.
3. Funeral service program with biography
4. Obituary, Trek, Spring 2001, p. 53.
5. High ‘UNRRA’ Posts for Four VGH Graduates
6. Photocopied photographs
7. two photographs

King, Helen Margaret (1901-1994)

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

Born in Middlesex, England, where she received her early education, Helen  King came to Canada after World War I, providing escort for a group of orphaned children under the auspices of Dr. Bernardo.  She graduated from the VGH School of Nursing in 1927, and worked at the Williams Lake War Memorial Hospital for several years.

In 1935 she became head nurse in maternity at VGH, and then in 1942-1943 enrolled in the teaching and supervision course at the McGill School for Graduate Nurses.  She returned to VGH was appointed clinical instructor and then Assistant Director of Nursing in 1945 and  Director of Nursing in 1952, where she served until her retirement in 1964. Her interest in and concern for nurses, nursing practice and nursing education was a lifetime commitment. She was an active member of the VGH SON Alumnae Association and served on RNABC committees. A Helen Margaret King Memorial Bursary was established at the Registered Nurses Foundation of BC.

Contents of Biographical File

1. From The School of Nursing Files and confidential.
2. King, H.M. “A Vexatious Question,” The Canadian Nurse (1931), 27 (7), 363-364.
3. “Interesting People”, The Canadian Nurse (1945), 41 (12), 980.
4. King, Helen “The Practicability of the Subsidiary Worker on the Hospital Ward,” The Canadian Nurse (1946), 42 (8), 658.
5. “Reader’s Guide”, The Canadian Nurse (1946), 42 (8), 624.
6. Letter from Helen King to D. Logan, March 2, 1977.
7. Dedication
8. “Helen King Retires,” from The News in General.
9. Nikki Moir, “Memories but no Regrets as Nursing Career Ends”.
10. “Honor Mary King”, The Times, January 29, 1965.
11. Keller, Maureen, “Nurse Retires to Her Flowers.”
12. Obituary, 1994.
13. In Memoriam: Helen Margaret King, 1901-1994.  Vancouver General Hospital School of Nursing Alumnae Association Newsletter, (Spring 1994).
14. Photograph
15. Biographical notes by Ethel Warbinek

Knudson (nee Joensen), Elinor Kathryn (1946-

Elinor was born in Copenhagen, and emigrated to Canada where she took nursing at UBC.  She nursed at the Royal Columbian Hospital in 1968-1969, for a UBC Family Practice unit from 1969-1972, and as a Public Health Nurse from 1972 to 1980 in Maple Ridge.  While she retired from nursing when her first daughter was born, she remained active as a volunteer,

Contents of Biographical File

1. Biographical Information Profile
2. Biographical Agreement form
3. Knudson, Elinor, “In the Board Room,” RNABC News, February/March 1972, pp. 14-15.
4. Knudson, Elinor,” UBC Family Practice Unit Involves Nurse”, The Canadian Nurse, March 1970, pp. 21-22.
5. Knudson, Elinor, “New Scope for Nursing,” RNABC News, December 1961 or 1962, 10-11.
6. Four photographs. Two of Knudson as UBC student, ca. 1960s, one of graduation, 1968, one ca. 2010.

Komiyama (nee Yamazaki), Lillian May (1922-2014)

Although she suffered severe discrimination because of her Japanese ancestry, May’s Christian faith and personal values provided a basis for her positive vision of life.  While her internment during WW II forced her to leave her nursing training at VGH, she was eventually one of two oriental girls accepted for training at Guelph General Hospital, graduating in 1946.  She worked in the Public Health system in Toronto, and received a diploma in Public Health nursing (UofT) and, later, a BSN (UBC) in 1976   She retired from Holy Family Hospital in 1984 as the Assistant Director of Nursing. Her sister, Yasuko Yamazaki, graduated from VGH in 1938., received a diploma in PHN from UBC in 1939 and was the first Japanese public health nurse in Vancouver.

Married to the Reverend Takashi Komiyama, she was also active in the United Church, raising concerns about the acceptance and recognition of all visible minorities.  In 1991 she received an honorary Doctor of Divinity from the Vancouver School of Theology at UBC.

Contents of Biographical File

1. Biographical Information Profile
2. “May Komiyama: Beacon for the Ethnic Church.”  In The First Book of Saints:  Ten Profiles in Mission. Ed. Dean Salter, United Church Publishing House, 1988, pp. 97-105.
3. Dr. May Komiyama, ”Hovering Over the Water Project.” In The Water Project: Continuing Conversation, ed. Ray McGinnis.
4. May Komiyama, “Progress in Seventy-Five Years,” In Living the Experience: 75 Years in the United Church of Canada (1925-2000).
5. Obituary
6. Photograph
7. Summary of Oral History by Ethel Warbinek.
8. Oral History Referral Sheet
9. “Some Background History”
10. Letter from Naomi Miller to Ethel Warbinek, July 21, 2003

Kunderman, Eleanor (1921-

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

Eleanor took her initial nursing training at St. Paul’s Hospital, graduating in 1944 and later received her BSc from UBC and her MA from Columbia University.  She worked mainly as an educator, first at St. Paul’s Hospital, and later for the RNABC, the Division of TB Control (Canada) and the New York Medical College (US).

In 1959 she started the first of many contracts with WHO, establishing the first nursing school in Iran.  She also continued her role as educator with WHO projects in Sri Lanka, India, Nepal and Burma.

Contents of Biographical File

1. Biographical Information Profile
2. Biographical release form
3. Curriculum Vitae
4. Photograph

Johnson (aka Johnstone) (nee Archibald), Margaret Etta (1871-1929)

Margaret Johnstone was active in the Canadian National Association of Trained Nurses, serving on numerous committees and championing the elevation of standards for nurses and hospitals.  She was a founding member of the BC Hospital Association in 1918, and active in the early days of the Canadian Hospital Association.  She helped lay the foundations for the Survey of Nursing Education in Canada.

Born in Nova Scotian, she graduated from Boston City Hospital School of Nursing in 1899.  After a decade working in private nursing in the US, she came to Vancouver, where she owned and operated a highly successful 22-bed private Butte Street hospital from 1912 to 1928. From 1925-1927, she was President of the Graduate Nurses Association of BC.

Contents of Biographical File

1. Summary Biographical Information
2. Longer version for the RNABC Awards Committee
3. Background information
4. Curriculum Vitae
5. Glennis Zilm. “The Search for Margaret Etta’s Photograph-or-The Importance of Primary Sources in Historical Research” (1999).
6. Correspondence concerning photograph, 1996-1999.
7. Photograph
8. “New Notes” [Obituary], The Canadian Nurse, 25 (12), December 1929, 736.
9. Photograph of Butte Street Hospital along with information on Johnson in a letter from Helen Shore to Glennis Zilm.

Jones, Rose (ca. 1900 – 

Rose was registered as a BC nurse in 1924 and was a member in good standing of the California State Nurses’ Association for 1926-27

Contents of Biographical File

1. Archives Deed of Gift form with accompanying letter, August 10, 2012.
2. GNABC Certificate of Registration, January 24, 1924.
3. GNABC annual certificate, May 1, 1925.
4. GNABC annual certificate, April 9, 1927. Registration card for California State Nurses Association, 1926-1927.
5. Letter from GNABC, April 16, 1928, confirming resignation in good standing.

Jensen (nee Webster), Catherine Renee (1914-2004)

Because of her community activism, Catherine Jensen was known by many as the unofficial mayor of the West End (Vancouver).  She opposed development proposals and rezoning, and was a key figure in removing the prostitute trade from the West End.  Her efforts helped create the West End Community Centre and Gordon Neighbourhood House.  She frequently expressed her views in the West End Times.

In 1937 she graduated from the Vancouver General Hospital School of Nursing, and subsequently studied Operating Room Technology in New York.  She worked at VGH from 1937-1940 and 1948-1971, where she set up a post-anesthetic room and participated in the major post WW II advances in modern medicine.  She was particularly moved by her time at Haro Park Children’s Hospital.

Contents of Biographical File

1. Biographical Information Profile and release form.
2. Renee Jensen, “Neighbourliness in the West End,” West End Times, July 26, 1995.
3. “Nurses Strike: Seniors’ Beat”, August 24, 1989.
4. Reneee Jensen, [article], West End Times, May 22, 1998.
5. Renee Jensen, “Heritage Is a ‘Non-Renewable’ Resource,” Letter to The Vancouver Sun, August 2, 1995, p. A14.
6. Letter to Ethel Warbinek, July 28, 1995.
7. O’Connor, “Polite, Determined Senior Left Her Mark in West End.
8. Photograph and business card
9. Obituary

Johns, Ethel (1879-1968)

See also the Ethel Johns fonds in the UBC Archives

See Margaret Street, Watch-Fires on the Mountains:  The Life and Writings of  Ethel Johns (in archives library)

Ethel Johns spent her early life in North Wales, as an adolescent accompanying her parents to the Wabigoon Indian reserve in northern Ontario.  She attended the Winnipeg General Hospital Training School for Nurses, and worked at various nursing positions before becoming superintendent of The Children’s Hospital of Winnipeg in 1915.

Attendance at Columbia University in 1914 had convinced her that the goal for nursing education should be affiliation with a university.  In 1919, Ethel Johns received a joint appointment as Superintendent of Nurses at VGH and the first Director of the Department of Nursing at UBC, where she implemented a strong, science-based liberal education. Under her guidance, the five year program leading to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing was established. She resigned in 1925 and  after some years in the US, she returned to Canada in 1933, where she became editor and business manager of The Canadian Nurse until her retirement in 1944.  She received the Agnes Snively Memorial Medal in 1940 and an honorary Doctor of Laws from Mount Allison University in 1948.  Her writings include three books, sixteen pamphlets, and more than one hundred articles and editorials.  In 2009 she was designated a National Historic Person of Canada.

Contents of Biographical File

1. Writings by Ethel Johns
   1. “A Graduating Climb”, The Canadian Alpine Journal (1910), 11 (2), 158- Address to Mass Meeting.” (1919)
   2. “The University in Relation to Nursing Education,” Rpt. From The Modern Hospital (1920), 15 (2), 1-5.
   3. “Twenty Years On,” Pupil Nurses Annual, VGH, 1922, pp. 14-15.
   4. “An Honourable Tradition,” Pupil Nurses’ Annual, 1923, pp. 11-14.
   5. “The Nurse Seeks the University,” The Canadian Nurse, September 1948, (9), 720-724.
   6. “…Off Duty…”, In Just Plain Nursing, ed. Ethel Johns. (1933)
   7. “Address to Mass Meeting.”(1919)
2. E. Incledon Jones, “To the Members of the Graduating Class of 1921.”
3. “Miss Ethel Johns”, The Canadian Nurse (1929), p. 674.
4. Rae Chittick, “In Appreciation of Ethel Johns”. Ca. 1969.
5. Margaret Street, “Presentation of the Gift of the Late Miss Ethel Johns to the Charles Woodward Memorial Library, January 12, 1969.
6. Rev. of Watch Fires on the Mountains: The Life and Writings of Ethel Johns, The Canadian Nurse, March 1974, pp. 44, 46.
7. Lissa Cowan, “No Handmaiden of Medicine,” Trek, Summer 2009, pp. 25-28.
8. “Government of Canada Celebrates the Historical Significance of Ethel Johns”
9. Nomination to CNA Memorial Book.
10. From “Ethel Johns: Nursing Leader,” by Beverly Deipert (?), February 23, 1998.
11. Margaret Street. “Ethel Johns fonds” (UBC 1969)
12. Esther Paulson, “Memories of Ethel Johns.” (1999)
13. Sonja Grypma, “Profile of a Leader: Unearthing Ethel Johns’ ‘Buried’ Commitment to Racial Equality, 1925,” Nursing Leadership, (2003) 16, (4), 39-47.
14. “Nursing Pioneer Honoured,” The Canadian Nurse, September 2009, 105 (7), 8.
15. Glennis Zilm, “Pins and Medals of Ethel Johns”, BC History of Nursing Society, (Spring 2013), p 8.
16. Nomination to CNA Memorial Book.
17. Kate Jaimet, “We Want to Tell Their Stories”, Ottawa Citizen, January 11, 2009,p.A4
18. “UBC’s first nursing school director celebrated as a person of National Historic Significance”
19. “Ethel Johns Historic Plaque Unveiled,” February 13, 2015
20. Three photographs
21. Photographs on DC from Ethel Johns Ceremony at Cecil Green Park House February 10,2015. Credit Don Erhardt.