Stella Burry (1897–1991), also known as Stella Anne Burrey, was a
Canadian
Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
community worker and volunteer.
Early life and education
Stella Burry was born on 11 August 1897
in
Greenspond
Greenspond is a community in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
Greenspond is one of the communities that comprise an area called Bonavista North, in Bonavista Bay, on the northeast coast of the Island of Newfoundland. These ...
,
Bonavista Bay
Bonavista Bay (BB) is a large bay located on the northeast coast of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada. It opens directly onto the Atlantic Ocean.
The bay is demarcated by Cape Freels to the nort ...
,
Newfoundland Colony
Newfoundland was an English, and later British, colony established in 1610 on the island of Newfoundland. That followed decades of sporadic English settlement on the island, which was at first only seasonal. Newfoundland was made a Crown colony ...
.
Her father was a fisherman.
She was encouraged by her mother to study.
She started teaching at the age of 17,
and spent some time in Memorial college in order to become a teacher, but the poverty she observed led her to reconsider her career.
In 1923 she moved to
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
to attend the Methodist Training School (now the
Centre for Christian Studies
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...
),
where she trained to become a deaconess,
majoring in social work.
She also studied at
Victoria University, Toronto
Victoria University is a federated college of the University of Toronto located at the St. George campus in Downtown Toronto. The school was founded in 1836 by the Wesleyan Methodist Church of Canada as a nonsectarian literary institution. From ...
.
While in her second year of study, she realized that what people living in poverty needed was not charity, but opportunities to realise their potential.
Career
Burry spent fourteen years in Toronto engaged in church work.
She was elected president of the Deaconess Association of the
United Church of Canada
The United Church of Canada (UCC; ) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholic Church in Canada.
The United Chu ...
in 1934.
In 1937, she was persuaded by Rev Oliver Jackson, Superintendent of Home Missions for Newfoundland, to work in Newfoundland. In 1938, she established her office in the Old Star Building in
St John's, and founded the United Church Community Service Centre
(originally Emmanuel House),
now Stella Burry Community Services Centre.
She remained its director until 1966. She helped establish the Agnes Pratt Home for Senior Citizens in St. John's.
She continued doing voluntary work during her retirement.
She never married and died in 1991 at the age of 94 years.
Recognition
In 1967, Burry was named the St. John's City Council Citizen of the Year.
In 1971, the Pine Hill Divinity Hall,
Halifax, awarded her an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree.
The community service centre she founded was renamed the Stella Burry Community Services Centre,
and the United Church youth camp she founded in 1942 was named Burry Heights in her honour.
References
Further reading
* ''No ordinary woman : the story of Dr. Stella Annie Burry'', by Joseph C. Burke, Ottawa : Hermitage Publishing Corporation, 2000.
External links
36 More Great Women by Canada History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burry, Stella
Canadian community activists
1897 births
1991 deaths
People from Newfoundland (island)
Members of the United Church of Canada