Former Stittsville volunteer Mary Durling honoured with park name

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Mary Durling would have been slightly embarrassed by all the fuss being made over her this week. A little pleased, admittedly, but also embarrassed.

On Friday, Stittsville’s Cypress Gardens Park, on Brae Crescent and just two blocks from the house where Mary lived for 48 years until her death in 2015, will be renamed Mary Durling Park, to honour her decades of community service.

“I think this is beautiful,” said her son Neil, one of four boys she raised, “because Mom did so much and never wanted acknowledgement or credit, or even anybody to know.

“She didn’t like the attention. She was pretty humble. She put everybody ahead of herself. But it’s wonderful that they’re remembering her and doing something for her.”

Named Stittsville’s Senior Citizen of the Year in 2009, Mamie, as she was known to her family, volunteered with and raised funds for numerous charities and community groups. An avid dart player and gardener, she was an active charter member of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Royal Canadian Legion 618 branch and longtime supporter of its Wednesday night bingo. She was also involved with Holy Spirit Catholic Parish, where she attended, and canvassed door-to-door for such charities as the Canadian Cancer Society, March of Dimes and the Kidney Foundation.

Cypress Gardens Park was, at most, a glint in a developer’s eye when Neil was a youngster, although he frequented its forested precursor and built forts and rafts there. But he recalls his mother visiting the park regularly after it was built in 1991, with the numerous neighbourhood children she babysat to help make ends meet.

“So, yes, it’s pretty special that it’s this park,” he said. “It wasn’t here when I was a kid, but when my daughter, Rachel, was growing up, there’s be a skating rink here in the winter and I’d bring her and her friends here, and they loved it.”

Stittsville city councillor Shad Qadri recalls Mary as an energetic and friendly force in the community. “She was very personable and very welcoming. If you went knocking on her door, she would say ‘Come in and have a cup of tea or coffee,’ or whatever, and if the weather was favourable, you’d go out into her back porch and share a pizza or coffee or whatever she had at the time.”

Qadri adds that he’s been very supportive of renaming streets and parks, and even stormwater management ponds in his ward, for residents of note. “I think it’s important to recognize community members because of their years of volunteer service. To me, community is more than just buildings and roads. It’s made up of people; people who care, people who help to build the moral fibre in the community, and if an opportunity arises, we should be naming these in their honour.”

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Mary Durling.


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A total of 30 people or families have this year had petitions accepted to have streets, parks or other facilities in Ottawa named in their honour. Four others are currently being considered. They are:

STREETS

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Sarah Billings.


Sarah Billings (Alta Vista ward): The youngest of nine children born to early settlers Braddish Billings and Lamira Dow, she inherited her parents’ estate in 1864 and was committed to philanthropic work.





Cox Country (Cumberland): Four generations of the Cox family have lived for more than a century on what is now known as Frank Kenny Road.

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Wally Kasper.


Wally Kasper: (Bay): Kasper flew Lanacaster bombers in the Second World War and trained fighter pilots for the Korean War. He was inducted in the Canadian Veterans Hall of Valour and invested as a Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur by the Republic of France.



Allan Griffin (Bay): Griffin worked with Scouts Canada for 75 years.

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Peter Tilley.


Peter Tilley (Beacon Hill-Cyrville): Tilley is best known for his work with the Ottawa Food Bank and Ottawa Mission.





Garry Hamilton (Knoxdale-Merivale): Involved in community sports programs for children.

Jean Davey (Alta Vista): One of the first two women to enter the Canadian Armed Forces, serving as a doctor from 1941-45. She was awarded the Order of the British Empire.

Marcel Laplante (Alta Vista): President of the Vanier Richelieu Club, he championed francophone causes in the city.

Malala Yousafzit (Gloucester-South Nepean): An honourary Canadian, she became in 2014 the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace prize, at 17.

Scott-Dupuis (Orleans): Mary Scott and François Dupuis are the founding couple of the village of Orléans.

Tim Sheehan (Stittsville): Known for decades of volunteer work, in minor hockey, the Stittsville Food Bank, Do it for Daron and the parade of lights.

Katerina Merikas (city-wide): A painter known for the naïve expressionism of her work, her art has been featured on UNICEF greeting cards.

Eugène Martineau (Rideau-Vanier): Mayor of Ottawa in the early 1870s, he was a merchant and entrepreneur, he built and owned the Martineau Hotel on Murray Street.

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Thomas Payment.


Thomas Payment (Rideau-Vanier): Former Ottawa alderman, mayor and pharmacist.







Wilfrid Champagne (Rideau-Vanier): Former Vanier alderman, mayor and RCMP administrator.

Roland Colonnier (Rideau-Vanier): A former lawyer and notary who was very active in the Vanier community. He died in 1962 at just 36 years of age.

Helen McKiernan (Gloucester-Southgate): Former general manager of the Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport and volunteer with the Salvation Army, Good Companions, Kanata Legion, Bytown Museum, Historical Society of Ottawa and the Friends of the Canadian War Museum.

John Holden (Cumberland): Pioneer and one of Gloucester’s earliest settlers.

Famille-Côté (Cumberland): Six generations of the Côté family have championed French culture in Orléans.

PARKS

David and Judy Makin (West Carleton): Volunteers David and Judy Makin, ecologists who worked to preserve natural green space for neighbourhood recreation. Active in the community from the earliest days of the March Rural Community Association, Judy was among the founding members of the Friends of Huntley Highlands, now named Friends of the Carp Hills.

W.J. Bell (Stittsville): Stittsville businessman and developer who donated much parkland.

Silas Bradley (Rideau-Goulbourn): Stittsville’s first reeve and founder of Bradley’s Insurance. Bradley also served as chair of the South Carleton High School Board, Master of the Hazeldean Masonic Lodge, warden of St. Thomas Anglican Church, Justice of the Peace for Carleton County, charter member of the Stittsville District Lions Club and an officer of the Hazeldean Loyal Orange Lodge No. 246.

Susanna Kemp (Stittsville): Converted the family home into a successful inn in 1841.

Lee Boltwood (Stittsville): Gardener who provided advice to the Central Experimental Farm, Carp Farmers’ Market and Village Square

Ronald Warren (Osgoode): Among the leaders of a project to acquire a baseball park for Kenmore village.

Lyndall Winters (Kanata North): After a long career with the RCMP, he spent his retirement advocating for the preservation of the environment.

William Bradley (Stittsville): Ran a grocery store in Stittsville for 46 years.

FACILITIES

Deirdre McQuillan (Lounge, Capital ward): Volunteer and executive director of the Ottawa South Community Association.

Susan Finch (Meeting room, Kanata North): A longtime Kanata resident, she taught ceramics classes at the John G. Mlacak Centre.

UNDER CONSIDERATION

Kavanagh family (Park, Stittsville): The Kavanagh family has been a part of the Stittsville community for nearly a century, running the Stittsville Flea Market and volunteering with such organizations as the Food Bank, Holy Spirit Catholic Parish and Ruddy-Shenkman Hospice.

Robert and Linda Poulsen (Gymnasium, River): Involved in sports and churches in the Hunt Club area, as well as the hunt Club Riverside Park Community Centre, where Linda served as president.

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Wendy Stewart.


Wendy Stewart (Pond, River): A former counsellor, she was involved in environmental issue, Girl Guides, the Carleton Heights Community Centre and the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority.





Moodie family (Cemetery, Gloucester-South Nepean): Stonemason James Moodie emigrated from Scotland to Perth, and in 1840 arrived in the Bytown area. The stone house he built still stands.

bdeachman@postmedia.com

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