Departed Allisonians Fall 2015
The following list is compiled from information sent to University Advancement May 15, 2015 – Sept. 15, 2015. Please feel welcome to submit memories of departed Allisonians you have known and loved.
Nora (Fisher) Tapley — 1935
Borden Bird — 1938
Winnifred (MacLennan) Johnston — 1939
Dorothy (Charman) Doane — 1942
Mary (Carter) Pomeroy — 1942
Lloyd S. Allen — 1945
David A. Hunter — 1945
Lorna (MacLennan) Moffatt — 1945
George H. MacLean — 1946
Catherine (Huntley) Stewart — 1946
Donald J. MacGregor — 1947
G. Daniel Roberts — 1947
Harold L. Wright — 1947
Joan (Hackett) Midgley — 1948
Ralph B. Welch — 1948
Stuart W. Clarkson — 1949
Richard L. Elderkin — 1949
Robert N. Hazlehurst — 1949
Hyman Sable — 1949
Jean (Fraser) Wayling — 1949
Robert V. Barritt — 1950
Herbert A. Batstone — 1950
Rachel (Hicks) Murray — 1951
Joyce (Wood) Stark — 1951
Robert W. White — 1951
Ross Langley — 1952
Vera (Cummings) Cowie — 1953
Murray Favier — 1953
Ian F. Hess — 1953
Rufus D. Reid — 1953
Keillor D. Coleman — 1954
Eric L. Whynacht — 1956
Beth (Mann) Couillard — 1958
Anne (Mosley) Rowe — 1958
Beverley (Lester) Johnston — 1959
Robert T. Rose — 1960
Leslie A. Duguid — 1964
Arlyn (MacLeod) Leard — 1964
Gordon M. Clifford — 1965
Brian R. March — 1970
Gerald S. Smith — 1976
Patricia J. Reicker — 1986
Fiona Wotherspoon — 1987
Kenda (Mitton) Paterson — 1993
Florence C. Deacon — Friend
Verna Estabrooks — Friend
Dorothy (Nan) Haley — Friend
Donald B. Marks — Friend
Margaret R. Smith — Friend
David P. Beatty — Former Faculty
Neville W. Ralph — Former Faculty
Lorna Stork — Former Staff
Katherine (Root) Taussig — Former Staff
Gary Thurston — Parent (Former Student)
Charles Llewellyn — Honorary Degree recipient
Flora MacDonald — Honorary Degree recipient
Vera (Cummings) Cowie (’53)
Submitted by Jane Tisdale (’89) and Rachel Thornton (’15)
Vera (Cummings) Cowie (Applied Arts ’53) passed away on July 16, 2015 in Woodstock, NB.
In 1950, Vera arrived at Mount Allison to study Applied Arts and she excelled in woodcarving and jewellery-making.
Before graduation, she was offered a job with the Nova Scotia department of adult education where she worked for several years, travelling around the province teaching craftwork. She said: “hopefully I inspired people to weave and to carve and to appreciate handmade things.”
Vera later earned a diploma in Occupational Therapy from Queen’s University and combined her Applied Arts skills in rehabilitation work in Toronto for 20 years. She retired to her hometown of Woodstock and recently loaned several items for the Applied Arts exhibition at the Owens Art Gallery. She was pleased to be part of this exhibition where her work was displayed alongside items made by her Mount Allison friends and classmates from 1953: Peggy (Goodspeed) Davidson, Nan (Whalen) Fairchild, and Nancy (Stephenson) Benn.
Elizabeth ‘Beth’ (Mann) Couillard (’58)
Submitted by Penny Terceira (’59) and the family of Beth Couillard
Elizabeth ‘Beth’ (Mann) Couillard, (Applied Arts ’58) passed away on May 25, 2015 in Moncton, NB, after battling cancer bravely and with dignity.
Beth was very excited about participating in the recent Applied Arts Exhibition at the Owens Art Gallery. She attended the opening reception on May 8 with family and friends. This was especially meaningful since this was one of her last outings. The exquisite silver moonstone ring that she created as a student in 1957 was one of the featured items in the exhibition catalogue.
Her student years were happy ones, busy with classes/projects, the basketball team, speed skating and the Women’s Athletic Committee. Special classmates Diane (Dulmage) Matheson (’58), Penny (Peel) Terceira (’59), and Elaine (MacPherson) Garland (‘59), shared wonderful friendships for over 50 years.
Family meant everything to Beth. After leaving Mount Allison in 1958, she worked in Quebec using her Applied Arts knowledge in OT, and met her husband John. They returned to Aulac to own/operate the Beauséjour Motel & Cabins 1961-1981 and to raise three beautiful daughters. She returned to her childhood home in Petitcodiac, NB where she and John operated a family blueberry business. Beth was active in the Beta Sigma Phi for over 50 years, earning the highest award this May – the Torch Bearer.
Robert V. Barritt (’50)
Submitted by Gemey Kelly
Robert V. (Bob) Barritt studied Fine Art at Mount Allison, graduating with a BFA in 1950. After returning to Bermuda, he joined the family business, John Barritt & Son Ltd. In 1985 he was elected into the House of Parliament and became Bermuda’s Cultural and Community Affairs Minister; later, he became a UBP Senator.
During the 1950s and '60s he continued to paint, tackling difficult issues related to poverty and social injustice. In his work, as in his life, he responded to people and the things that mattered in their lives. He believed in young people, and in the importance of supporting future generations of artists. With this in mind, he established the position of The Robert V. and Grace Barritt Curator of Education and Community Outreach at the Owens Art Gallery, enabling the Owens to develop its role as a teaching and learning museum.