Legacy Donor Stories - Canadian Red Cross

Bernard Malcolm Patterson

Bernard Malcolm Patterson probably considered himself just an ordinary man. However, those who knew him describe him as "a pillar of society" who supported his community while alive, and also took a simple step to ensure his kindness continued long after he was gone.

George Ferdinands

George Ferdinands has fond memories of growing up in Ceylon, long before it was renamed Sri Lanka. He remembers running barefoot on its beautiful beaches, and playing soccer in his underwear in the torrential monsoon rains. Of Dutch and English ancestry, he loved the diversity of the people of Sri Lanka. He also loved meeting people of diverse cultures and backgrounds around the world while working as a young man with the British Merchant Navy

Don Elliot

Ask someone to describe what hope looks like and their answer may surprise you. For Donald Allan Elliott, in 1941, hope looked an awful lot like sixteen ounces of milk powder, some butter, cheese, corned beef, sardines, dried apples, prunes, sugar, jam, a couple of biscuits, some chocolate, salt and pepper, tea and a bar of soap. That and just a few other items made up the parcels that the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies distributed to prisoners of war during ...

F. Millar Ewing

Millar Ewing has led an interesting life, going to work part time after classes and Saturdays while in high school, arranging customs clearances for a local firm even before Newfoundland joined Confederation. After graduating from school he worked in that company's parts department (1946-1950).The next four years was spent with another local firm, Steers Limited in their equipment division, followed by another four years at Colonial Cordage.

Marguerite Dorval

There are thousand of stories like ours, people who owe their lives and their futures to amazing organizations. I’m certain that if it weren’t for the Red Cross, my father wouldn’t have survived WWII. Henri Dorval was one of the 72 soldiers reported missing in action after the Dieppe invasion of France in September 1942.

Ray Hopkins

Sitting down with Ray (who I've known for many years) in his comfortable living room, he told me how his relationship with Red Cross developed. He said his association was in fact in three time frames. In high school he was a Jr. Red Crosser, and greatly enjoyed the activities. When he was eighteen, he worked with the Bank of Montreal in Grand Falls. The Red Cross were looking for blood donors and he responded with his first donation.

Ruth Hamilton

Ruth Isabelle Larmour was born in Ottawa on 12 August 1915, the second child of William Larmour and Nellie Slack. From an early age, her life was scarred by tragedy. In 1918 when she was just three years old, her mother succumbed to the Spanish Flu. In those days, children were sent to live with relatives, often bouncing from one home to another. And so it was with Ruth: she and her older brother stayed with one great aunt and a younger sister stayed with their maternal grandmother.