Grace J. Smith Fund

Grace Smith was a direct descendant of one of our district’s first settlers, Jacob Smith, a United Empire Loyalist who built his log cabin on a Crown Grant in the present Ryckman’s Corners area. Her mother’s Ashbaugh ancestors built the first local redware pottery in the early 1800′s in the vicinity of Main West and Arkell.
Grace was keenly interested in the local U.E.L. Association and served as Secretary for many years. An active member of Erskine Presbyterian Church, Miss Smith taught nearby at Strathcona School, as well as at Queen Mary, Stinson and Dalewood Schools over a period of 40 years.

Excerpt from 1989-1990 Annual Report

Eleanor M. Smith Fund

Eleanor Maude Smith was born in Toronto and lived in several small Southern Ontario communities prior to settling in Hamilton in 1925. Predeceased by both her husband Alfred Charles (1951), and her only son Douglas (1975), Mrs. Smith, in spite of failing health, maintained a keen interest in her garden and generously supported the work of church, health and environmental organizations.

Excerpt from 1990-1991 Annual Report

Dr. Harry Cameron Robinson

Dedicated, compassionate and even-tempered are some of the qualities Agnes Robinson uses to describe her husband, Dr. Harry Robinson. The pair met at the Hamilton General Hospital where she was a physiotherapist working with polio patients. He was a young intern who had graduated from Queen’s University in 1930 and went on to complete post-graduate studies in New York and London, England before establishing a practice at 908 King Street E. in Hamilton. Over his 50 year career, Agnes recalls many a phone call in the middle of the night and Dr. Robinson would be off to deliver a baby or make a house call.

“He was always interested in helping the less fortunate and his generosity endeared him to people.” An avid rose gardener, Dr. Robinson sported a fresh rose in his lapel each morning. Daughter Lynda Cahill remembers her father as a quiet man, loved by all and with a tremendous bedside manner. “He was 91 when he died and 500 people attended his funeral. We heard many wonderful stories about him that we never knew,” she added.

Dr. Robinson, a Hamilton native who cared for the health and well-being of so many of its residents until he retired at 80, remembered the Foundation with a gift in his will.

Excerpt from 1995-1996 Annual Report

Phyllis Isabella Robinson Fund

For more than 40 years, Miss Robinson was a kindergarten teacher at W. H. Ballard School in Hamilton. Agnes Robinson remembers her sister-in-law as a bright, understanding person with a strong feeling for her community. “Phyllis drove for Meals on Wheels. She worked at a summer camp on Lake Erie. She was president of the YWCA and head of the teachers’ federation. Phyllis loved children and would take her nieces and nephews to collect marsh marigolds in the spring. She was a modest person and a positive thinker who always tried to cheer others up.” Miss Robinson sang in the choir of St. Giles Church and was often in demand as a wedding soloist. Phyllis Robinson left a gift to her community by making a bequest in her will to the Foundation.

Excerpt from 1996-1997 Annual Report

James and Mary Phin Fund

James and Mary Phin

When the serious, courtly Major James Philip Phin married fun-loving Mary Stewart MacMillan in Pembroke on August 27, 1940, the couple intended it to be a quiet affair. The wartime wedding of two well-known Hamiltonians was difficult to ignore, however, and members of the battery who were stationed at Petawawa Military Camp attended the ceremony enmasse. James Phin’s impressive achievements included being Commanding Officer of the Eleventh Field Battery (the city’s first militia unit originally formed in 1856), alderman, host to King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1939 and member of Baritone Masonic Lodge. During the Second World War, he would add to this distinguished record of service by being the only Canadian to command field artillery, antiaircraft and antitank units. On the 50th anniversary of the war’s end, he received a medal for his involvement with the liberation of Brittany.

In 1944, he returned to civilian life and resumed his position with the Mixed Concrete and Supply Company, later known as RED-D-MIX Concrete. At this time he was approached to run for the federal Conservatives and numbered Ontario Premier John Robarts and Prime Minister John Diefenbaker among his friends. Later confined to a wheelchair due to severe arthritis, but fiercely independent, Major Phin remained in his own home.

Mary had predeceased him as the result of a severe asthmatic attack. After Major Phin’s death, the foundation was notified of the couple’s generous plans for the community they had served so well in life — bequests were made to the Hamilton Community Foundation.

This fund forms part of the Community Health Education & Research Fund, supports several specific charities and also supports the unrestricted Community Fund.

Excerpt from 1995-1996 Annual Report

Dr. Alexander A. Numbers Fund

Dr. Alexander Anderson Numbers, a long time Hamilton general practitioner who devoted his life to his patients and family, was still making housecalls into his late 80s.

Born in Scotland, he emigrated to Canada at 15 and served his new country in France during World War I at military headquarters, not as a doctor, but as a stenographer. Medical school came later, as did special studies in hematology. During his years of medical practice, Dr. Numbers held posts as chief of medical staff at both the Hamilton Civic Hospitals and St. Peter’s Centre, and he was honoured by the Hamilton Academy of Medicine as one of the first two recipients of the first distinguished achievement award in recognition of his remarkable career and his leadership in developing the Academy’s archive and museum.

Dr. Numbers died in 1989.

Excerpt from 1992-1993 Annual Report

Catherine C.H. Murray Fund

Catherine Constance Hull Murray came to Dundas from England as a child at the turn of the century. Having experienced extreme poverty in her early years, she became a generous supporter of several local charities.

A graduate of the Hamilton General Hospital in 1930, she nursed in Britain and Belgium during the Second World War and later worked to help reintegrate service women into civilian life.

She was the widow of Dr. J . Kenneth Murray, a Hamilton surgeon.

Excerpt from 1987-1988 Annual Report

Frederick J. Mills Fund

Frederick James Mills died in 1970. He enjoyed a first-hand relationship with the Foundation, having been elected to the Board in 1964.

Mr. Mills served in Italy during the First World War, attained the rank of Captain and was awarded the Military Cross. Subsequently, he joined the family hardware business and was active in the Gyro Club, a local service organization. Like his father Charles, a well-known architect, Fred Mills had an eye for design which he put to use in building his home on Hillcrest Avenue.

 Excerpt from 1989-1990 Annual Report

Samuel & Dora McFarlane Fund

Audrey Kershaw

Audrey Kershaw

“I love to see things grow and bloom,” said Audrey Kershaw. The Flamborough resident is referring to her garden, but the sentiment can be equally applied to her philosophy on charitable giving. When she retired from the Board of Education, Mrs. Kershaw began reviewing her charitable giving. Confronted with so many choices and worthy causes, Mrs. Kershaw looked to the Community Foundation for a solution.

After discussions with Foundation staff about her own personal charitable goals, Mrs. Kershaw set up the Samuel and Dora McFarlane Fund, to honour the memory of her parents. This allows Mrs. Kershaw to make contributions on a regular basis. Occasionally, she makes an additional in memoriam donation when someone dies. “It has given me great peace of mind knowing I’m helping more people this way. I’ve watched the fund grow and eventually, I would like to specify that it be directed to the needs of students.”

“It gives me great satisfaction”, she adds, “to read the annual report and see who benefits or to attend a theatre performance and realize it was made possible thorough a Foundation grant. I think the Foundation attracts good, decent people who emit a feeling of good will.”

Excerpt from 1998-1999 Annual Report

Jane C. LeWarne Fund

Jane LeWarne’s nursing career started with the Red Cross in Dryden in 1938 and took her to many communities across Northern Ontario. She loved the north and became a keen observer of birds and plant life, a pastime which gave her much pleasure through her years. In 1977, upon retirement from her supervisory position at the Runnymede Hospital, a long-term care facility in Toronto, Miss LeWarne moved to Hamilton to live with her sister Elizabeth, who established this memorial fund to perpetuate her sister’s tradition of support for the needs of young people.

Excerpt from 1992-1993 Annual Report