It is with profound sadness that we announce the death of Ruth Ann Whipp at her beautiful home in York Mills, Toronto, one month shy of her 75th birthday. Ruth Ann is predeceased by her beloved parents, Thelma and Harold Whipp, and by her sister, Susan (Lou) Petsinis. She will be dearly missed by her many friends, colleagues, and the high school students with whom she worked during her illustrious career.
Ruth Ann became a member of The Toronto Skating Club in 1953 at the age of five, the minimum age for membership. The Club merged four years later with two other clubs to form The Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club. Her parents were active members and that's where Ruth Ann perfected her skating and learnt how to swim and play tennis, excelling at them all. It also instilled in her a love of sport and athletics which manifested itself in her first teaching job as a Phys Ed teacher and Guidance Counsellor at York Memorial C.I. in the City of York Board of Education
Kind, caring, strong willed, hard-working, and yet full of fun, Ruth Ann embraced and excelled at everything she did. After graduating from Branksome Hall in 1966, she entered York University at its new campus in the windswept wilds of Keele and Steeles where she lived in residence at Founders College, forging lifelong friendships. She often credited the small community at York with giving her wonderful leadership opportunities. She was a member of the Founders Student Council in her first year and, in successive years, became President of the Women's Athletics Council, Women's Sports Editor on the university's fledgling student newspaper, Excalibur, and played on intramural and varsity teams.
She graduated with a B.A. from York in 1971, a B.Ed from U of T in 1972, and a Masters of Education from U of T in 1978. Her leadership capabilities and compassion for students were quickly recognized by the City of York's Board of Education and she was promoted to Vice Principal at Frank Oke S.S. and subsequently as Vice Principal at York Memorial C.I. Shortly thereafter, she was named Principal at York Humber H.S., one of the first female principals within the York Board of Education. This led to appointments as Principal at Runnymede C.I. and Principal at Sir. John A. Macdonald C.I., within the TDSB.
Ever mindful of the student leadership opportunities provided to her at York University, she formed a student leadership group at each school where she worked as principal, meeting with student leaders every Friday in her office to discuss what was on their minds and seek their advice on issues facing the school. She felt those sessions were invaluable and often said that witnessing the growth of leadership skills among the students was phenomenal. Following her retirement in June, 2005, from Sir John A. Macdonald, she created a scholarship, the Ruth Ann Whipp Student Leadership Award, for students of that school. She was widely loved and admired for her enormous impact on students, fighting for the underdog and advocating for her students and staff.
An active member of The Toronto Cricket Club for almost 70 years, she served on its Board of Directors bringing warmth and vitality to the role. She sat on several committees including Tennis, Skating, Hospitality, and the Zoomers Committee. But perhaps her most lasting achievement was creating the Heritage Committee, which she chaired. This involved spending hundreds of hours combing through boxes of documents, photographs and archival material stored in the Club's basement, cataloging and organizing it all. She led a team creating a Heritage Room at the Club as well as a Tennis Wall of Fame, Cricket Wall of Fame, and Skating Wall of Fame featuring framed photographs of Club athletes such as Toller Cranston. She also helped plan and execute events commemorating the 100th anniversary of WW1 with two full rooms at the club displaying related war artifacts from former club members in a manner that would rival any museum.
Ruth Ann brought her same enthusiasm to playing bridge and golf. She travelled widely and each winter spent a few weeks in Turks and Caicos followed by two months in Ajijic, Mexico where she made many friends, played bridge and went to local concerts and plays.
Over the past several years, she brought her trademark tenacity to transcribing hundreds of handwritten letters between her father, RCAF Flight Lieutenant Harold Whipp, and her mother Thelma Edwards, from 1942-1945, with the view of publishing them with accompanying photographs and distributing copies to institutions such as the Canadian War Museum, and the archives of the Royal Canadian Air Force. She had a final meeting with her publisher just days before her untimely death. Her friends will ensure the book gets the widespread distribution she intended.
A visitation is being held on Tues, May 24, 4-8 pm, at the Kane-Jerrett Funeral Home, 6191 Yonge St, just south of Steeles Ave. The funeral is being held Wed, May 25, 10:30am at St. John's York Mills Anglican Church, 19 Don Ridge Drive.
A Celebration of Life will be held at The Cricket Club, 141 Wilson Ave., on Monday, June 20, from 4- 8pm. If you would like to attend the visitation on June 20 please contact Tracey Allen at [email protected].
https://www.greetingsisland.com/invites/pvcvnqlu5pvv
In lieu of flowers, please donate to one of the many charities Ruth Ann supported including Doctors Without Borders, The Alzheimer's Society, and The Daily Bread Food Bank.
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