Stories

M. Jessie Chagnon Fund

Born in 1897 in Green Valley near Ottawa, Ont., Jessie MacDonald nursed First World War veterans at Toronto’s Christie Street Hospital where she met her husband-to-be, Elmer Stanley Chagnon, a lieutenant in the Canadian Infantry who had won the Military Cross for bravery in the battle at Amiens, France. The Hamilton Tigers’ championship quarterback was never to play football again as a result of a disabling hip wound. By 1933, he had qualified as a chartered accountant and joined forces with C.K. MacGillivray, a former Executive Director of The Hamilton Foundation, to form Chagnon & MacGillivray.

After her husband’s death in 1953, Mrs. Chagnon remained in their Burlington Northland Ave. home for many years. In her Will, she left generous legacies to various health and social agencies, Roman Catholic Charities and The Hamilton Foundation.

Excerpt from 1988-1989 Annual Report