Rachel Perot WAINWRIGHT

OBITUARY RACHEL PEROT MORTON (nee Wainwright) Age ninety-nine, passed away peacefully on Friday, March 6, 2009 in Halifax. She was predeceased by her husband, Dr. Harry Statford Morton, in 2001. Rachel, born in Vancouver, B.C., on November 25, 1909, was the only child of the late Mary Haliburton (nee King) and Lumley Gregor Wainwright and the only surviving grandchild of John Tucker Wainwright of Halifax and Bermuda. In infancy, her father died; her mother returned to Nova Scotia and later married the late Arthur Blanchard Wiswell. After early schooling in Halifax, she attended St. Leonard's School for Girls in St. Andrew's, Scotland. This was followed by a year living with a family in Dieppe, learning French. She then enrolled at King's College and the Halifax Conservatory of Music, where she studied art and music with a focus on voice and piano. She traveled to London, England for further studies in voice and in 1937 was awarded a Licentiate from the Royal Academy of Music. A friendship developed with Harry Morton, then qualifying in obstetrics, gynaecology and general surgery in London, and later that year they were married at King's College Chapel in Halifax. They took up residence in Montreal, where he established a surgical practice at the Royal Victoria Hospital and she started a lifetime of volunteer work. During WWII, Dr. Morton, then a surgeon with the Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve, was given several naval postings (Halifax, St. John's, Victoria), and Rachel accompanied him to give volunteer support and assistance at the naval bases. She took British refugee children into her home at the beginning of the war and nurtured them for many years. WWII over, the Mortons returned to Montreal. With no children of her own, Rachel devoted time and talent, energy and compassion to the service of others in the wider community. Through loyalty to her church, she became a founding member of the first Montreal Meals on Wheels Service; the ladies did the shopping, prepared the meals in the church kitchen and delivered them to the disabled, seniors and shut-ins. She was a longtime member and then President of the Montreal Volunteer Bureau, a group that organized volunteers and matched them to services where their talents could be most effectively used. She personally spent hours entertaining youngsters, organizing therapeutic play programs and cuddling sick infants at the Montreal Children's Hospital. In other hospitals, she visited the lonely, the sick and convalescing patients and she operated a mobile library. She had a particular rapport with the blind, reading to them, going for walks and other outings for shopping or concerts; generally offering a hand of friendship. She served with the National Council of Women, including executive positions. She was a member of the Monarchist League of Canada and last year attended a reception hosted by Nova Scotia's Lt. Governor, the Hon. Mayann Frances, where loyalty to Queen and Country was recognized. The Mortons had a farm property in Lunenberg County. There, with the assistance of a farm manager, cattle and sheep, goats and pigs, hens, ducks and geese were husbanded. The farmland was tended by using the traditional farming practices of crop diversification and rotation; the farm was exemplary of environmentally sustainable agricultural practices. Using her artistic flair, Rachel created wonderful colorful gardens. The less fortunate and disabled were especially welcomed there. The property was gifted to Acadia University in trust to be maintained in perpetuity in its natural state as in Environmental Studies Center. Throughout their lives, the Mortons were keenly interested in the education of youth. They established the Morton Library Fund at Mount Allison University in Sackville, NB, which will continue to enrich the library for the benefit of the university community in years to come. In 1999, Mount Allison University honored Rachel for her lifetime of service to the university and the community, her support of the education of young people, her volunteer work, her generosity, and her compassion and kindness to the less fortunate by granting to her the Mount Allison Regent's Service Medal. Rachel was a member of the Congregations of St. Paul's in Halifax and St. John's in Lunenburg; the fellowship she had with those communities was important to her. Rachel took a great interest in the lives of the extended King, Wainwright and Wiswell families, her godchildren, and many dear friends including Mrs. Minnie McCurdy of Toronto, with whom her friendship spanned more than eighty years. Rachel's last years at home were notably enriched by the loving care and friendship given to her by several special people to whom thanks are extended: Dr. C. Jean Cameron, MD, Dr. William Acker, MD; Jean (JoJo) Jackson, Julie Menzies, Delphine Lanteigne, Shirley Dube, Georgina Cock, Suzanne Anderson, Tammy Munden, Katherine Wilson; Marjoire Seaboyer, Bonnie Sawyer and Helen MacCullum. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. at St. Paul's Church, Halifax on Thursday, March 19, 2009. Private interment will be in the Morton family site, Brookside Cemetery in Bridgewater. No flowers by request. Memorial donations may be made to the Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation for Memory/Brain research or to a charity of one's choice. Condolences may be sent to P.O. Box 997, Halifax, NS, B3J 2X2. The memory of Rachel Morton will be much cherished and she will be greatly missed. Published in the Montreal Gazette on 3/18/2009