Volume 24 www.legionnl.com 27 Newfoundland Labrador Command continued ... took advantage of these ad hoc classes as well). Essentially, she began her WPA preparations 25 years before the WPA was formed. She spoke of her admiration for the women in that village as the ones who “sheared more sheep, spun more wool, and knitted more socks for the boys overseas than any other group on the island”. In 1919/20, the year in which she was awarded the OBE, two tragedies struck Aunt Datie’s family: her sister Winifred died in childbirth with my mother (little Winnie); and, her brother Ralph’s wife died shortly after premature childbirth, leaving10-month old son David. Aunt Datie’s elderly mother and father (Dorcas & William Parsons) didn’t hesitate to embrace and raise little Winnie as her grief-stricken father was left with five-year-old twin boys and an impending transfer to the Western Union branch in Long Island, New York. Aunt Datie immediately left teaching to raise wee David in the same household so that Winnie and David would grow up together as sister and brother. My mother (little Winnie) often quoted Edgar Allan Poe when remembering her younger life with David, “I was a child, and she was a child in our Kingdom by the Sea”. Aunt Datie cherished David and her role as his mother. Her brother Ralph was Commissioner of the Hudson Bay Company stationed in Winnipeg but, together, they guided David until 1940 when he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). He was sent overseas in 1941 and returned safely in 1945 as Flight Lieutenant David Ralph Parsons. Aunt Datie may have left teaching in 1919, but she certainly didn’t end her involvement in community and, eventually, similar organizational work in WWII. She was well-respected and did not hesitate to continue what she had begun in 1914 – this time without the auspices of the WPA. Her outstanding efforts were later recognized by the Town of Bay Roberts, albeit several years after her death. The Rachel Fannie Parsons, OBE I remember – my Aunt Datie – was kind and patient. She passed when I was 13 years old but my memories of her are clear. Now, with the advantage of advanced years, I reflect on these memories with perhaps a different perspective. I would spend hours at her home in Bay Roberts where she guided me through their extensive library, told me stories of family members, and encouraged me to explore the attics and ask questions. She let me “go wild” in her kitchen experimenting with making cakes (yet calmly clearing my mess), and encouraging me to learn about everything from world religions to animal husbandry. She taught me to knit, crochet, and play checkers. My favourite memory of her is when I was less than four years old and – sitting on her knees facing her while playing with her locket – I innocently asked her if she would leave it to me when she died. It was never spoken of again but, 10 years later and after her death, I learned she had remembered my request and I now proudly wear her treasured silver locket – the very one she wears in the picture attached. Every Newfoundlander and Labradorian – especially every woman here – should be proud of the women like my great aunt who, like all our cherished servicemen, gave more than we can imagine. To do so is the essence of integrity. Roberta Moores, B.A., B.Ed.,M.Ad.Ed.
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