Women of Pitt Meadows

Historical Women of Pitt Meadows

Women are often lost to history because traditionally we lose our names when we get married and go by new ones. We cannot possibly list all the influential women in Pitt Meadows as this list would be a very long one indeed. With teachers, secretaries, council members, there have been countless women in Pitt Meadows who have gone above and beyond in service of our community. It is a selfless act to care for one’s community, and we want to highlight a few of these ladies.

Communities are built off the hard labour of its citizens. However, an underrepresented group would be women whose silent labour goes unnoticed. This includes things like helping run a household, cooking, taking care of children, and sacrificing their own needs for those of others. Behind many large imposing male historical figures, there is usually a woman behind them helping push them along with little credit to their names.

Edith McDermott (nee: Lyness)

Mrs. McDermott contributed significantly to education in Pitt Meadows as a Teacher, Principal and Historian.

Edith McDermott graduated from the Vancouver Normal School at age 21 in 1914 and immediately began teaching. She first moved to Pitt Meadows to teach, beginning her teaching career at the Number 1 School in 1918, and then through the McMyn family met the man who would become her husband in 1920, William McDermott. She paused her teaching career when she had her two children Doug and Ruth.

She was a charter member of the Women's Institute and the Parent Teacher Association. During the Second World War, she coordinated supplies for the Red Cross and headed up knitting and parcel assembly for the armed forces. Edith was on countless committees including the Hall Board and Fair Committee, and was such an integral part of our community. She was the first principal of Pitt Meadows Elementary School from 1953 - 1961, and when she retired from being principal she remained a teacher for a few years after that before retiring fully.

In the fall of 1966, as a Canadian Centennial project, Edith researched and wrote the community's history book -- Through a Century of Progress: The Historical Story of Pitt Meadows. This book was published posthumously in 1967, after her death in a car accident. McDermott's service to Pitt Meadows is commemorated as the school Edith McDermott Elementary is named after her.

Elfriede Hoffmann

Elfriede was born on October 8^th, 1906, at her family’s farm in Grandview Manitoba. The Hoffmann family arrived in Pitt Meadows in 1934 when they purchased the Fairfield building. Elfriede taught school for several years including up in Terrace until the war started and she returned to help her father and brother (Hans) with the family business. She ran the office and did the accounting, an important part of the Hoffmann and Son business. As her mother Emilie (1874-1970) and Father Ladislaus (1872-1952) had both passed, the siblings relied on each other. Both worked extremely hard and helped their community. Hans passed away in 1999, and Elfriede was alone. She lived in the family home for a little longer before moving to long-term care where she would remain until she passed away on April 5^th, 2009. She was known for being a wonderful, friendly, and generous lady who always kept Pitt Meadows in her heart. Hans and Elfriede worked extremely hard, and they contributed a lot to their community. They donated and sold land to the municipality (creating Hoffmann Park),donated their family home to the municipality, donated the Hoffmann and Son shop and Quonset Hut to the Museum Society, and donated 800,000 dollars to the Ridge Meadows Hospital Foundation, just to name a few.

Hazel Anderson (nee: Park)

Hazel Mildred Lillian Park was born on February 5^th, 1914 in Pitt Meadows. Hazel was born, raised and passed away in the original Park family home just south of Lougheed Highway. She had two siblings, Gordon and Frances. Together they spent most of their childhood on the family farm, except for the years 1923 to 1930 when her father's position took them to Vancouver.

Mrs. Anderson’s formal introduction to textiles began in the early 1930s when she attended the “Academy of Useful Arts” in New Westminster. It was there she learned her trade as a seamstress and later (with her sister Frances) became owner and instructor of the same establishment. In 1938, she sewed the dress and crown for the first Miss Pitt Meadows!

On November 8^th, 1938, Hazel married Harry Anderson and began their farm and raised a family. She had two children, Donna and Doug.

Hazel was a founding member of the Pitt Meadows Heritage and Museum Society. Within our collection are several oral histories and stories recorded by her. Through them, we can have a picture of what our community of Pitt Meadows was like many years ago.

Hazel would pass away on May 8^th, 1996, leaving behind a lasting legacy.

Mary Jane Harris

Mary Jane Harris was born in Ingersoll, Ontario on April 28^th, 1844.

Mary Jane, her husband Wellington Jeffers Harris (first Reeve of Maple Ridge) and her son Frank arrived in Pitt Meadows in the 1870s. Harris Road is named after her husband. Mary Jane Harris was one of the first women of European descent to arrive in the area. She helped to establish the first Sunday School in the area and acted as a midwife before the arrival of a doctor in the community.

On February 7^th, 1921 the Pitt Meadows Women’s Institute was duly incorporated with the purpose of bringing culture and education to residents of the community. Mary Jane Harris, one of the first settlers in the Pitt Meadows area, is credited as being the woman who spearheaded the establishment of the group with the application for incorporation being signed by herself and 41 other women – no small feat for a community with a population of less than 500 at the time.

It is said that when Lord Dufferin and Princess Louise visited the province, Mary Jane succeeded in convincing Lord Dufferin to have the CPR tracks pass right through the middle of their property.

Mary Jane would pass away on February 12^th, 1937. She had outlived her husband who died in 1919. Their son would pass away in 1940, leaving behind an amazing family legacy of service and community.

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Do you have a woman in your life who you feel should be honoured and remembered? Please leave their story on our Community Map for future generations!