Gail Malcolm:
CLASS OF 1972
Widdifield High SchoolClass of 1972
North bay, ON
Fanshawe CollegeClass of 1988
London, ON
Central High SchoolClass of 1971
Stratford, ON
Shoenblick High SchoolClass of 1967
Zweibruecken,
Ramstein Canadian SchoolClass of 1966
Ramstein afb,
Gail's Story
Life
I have had a great life adventure to date. I have been living in Southwestern Ontario primarily. I have been married for 34 years to a terrific man, Bill and I have three wonderful children, Amy, Andrew and Allison. They have all, in turn, made me a very proud grandmother of 5 awesome babes - Kyla, Will, Matt, Eden and Abigail. They are all the greatest joys of my life.
I have had a wonderful career, despite the fact that I was not particularly confident or outgoing in high school. I started working in developmental services and through that process, learned a great deal about life and about not accepting the least of ones self. I have gone on to work as an Executive Director for several Big Brother / Big Sister Agencies, a Provincial Executive Director for the Canadian Deafblind & Rubella Assn., and currently I work as the Program Coordinator for the Community Inclusion Project, a national initiative operated through Community Living Ontario helping communities, schools and organizations review and strengthen the inclusiveness of lives fortheir community members. I have had the amazing opportunity to work with so many incredible people and to have witnessed so many positive achievements in many people's lives. I have also been an active volunteer in many organizations. I am a Past National President of Kin Canada (formerly Kinsmen and Kinette Clubs of Canada) as well as belonging to many community, provincial and national boards, committees and organizations. I am currently a member of the Fanshawe College Alumni Board of Directors and President of our local BB/BS agency as well as sitting on the Board of Trustees for the Hal Rogers Endowment Fund, an edcuational bursary offered to students across Canada. I love kids and working on behalf of youth or people who are challenged by disabilities, socio-economic issues, gender, ethinicity or any other human or societal barriers where I can advocate or support individuals, is a passion for me. I have worked with Prime Ministers, celebrities and all kinds of people from all walks of life. The most impressive though are the people who are part of our daily lives and who do good work or live lives as decent, giving people in their communities. I am sure Mr. Cullis would have been surprised by the fact that I have not needed to be a math scholar to do any of this!
I enjoy time with family and friends, reading, walking, the cottage, singing and music and just laughing and sharing good times with people I enjoy. My husband is a competitive trap shooter and likes to compete in Canada and the USA. I also enjoy pets. I have 5 cats and a dog to boot. This all sounds like one of those christmas letters which I don't like to write. So in closing, I have had much more of a life than I would ever have imagined when I was at ...Expand for more
Widdifield. I am still best friends with Margo Eno (Tooley) who became my best friend in Grade 9 at Widdifield and we will celebrate 42 years of friendship this year. I am proud of that. I have come across a number of old friends from high school over the years. I am still good friends also with Ellen Ramsey and have encountered other old friends over the years in person and by phone. That has been a really important thing for me. I missed the reunion years ago because I was Governor in my service club and had a convention to run on the same weekend. I would love to connect with a lot of old friends and find out how their lives have shaped them.
Thanks for reading this! May you always know that the difference you make today counts in all of our tomorrows!
Gail
School
Hmmm! Interesting! In Grade 9, I had a crush on George Wilson, who I don't think knew I existed. I experienced first love with Brad Howard, we dated for Grade 10 and part of 11. Met my husband at Ryerson and were married a year and a half later. 33 years and going strong. I also (like many of my friends) had a crush on Mr. Lewis. He was so handsome and nice.
I would have to say that most of my stories remind me of how shy I was and how lacking in self confidence I was as a young woman. There is pain attached to some of my recollections but also some points of pride and for sure, I had great friends and treasured the relationships of many good friends. Some changed over the years but all of them had an impact on my life and in my heart. Yes, I am kind of sappy but... honest. I remember how many sad moments we had at Widdifield losing friends tragically. I still remember how hard it was to know people like Ken, Rob, John, and John Beckler, Sam, Daniel and others who passed way too young and whose untimely deaths created a hugs sense of mortality for all of us.
I remember my great love for East - West games. They were the highlight of the school year in many ways. The energy, the intensity of pride in our school and our hockey team, the fights, the time the city banned the games, everyone passionately defending their schools.
I hated Mr. Cullis coming through the girls change room during gym. That would not happen today. I remember those horrid blue poofy gym suits we had to wear. Ugh! And I remember Miss Tripp walking down the glass corridor with all the guys lined up to watch her. Funny story, years down the road, my children ended up being taught by Miss Tripp in Ingersoll. Who would have guessed!
I remember the dances where Margo, Anne and I held the walls up while Leigh was asked to dance every dance. I remember some great parties in Grade 13 and certainly, the awareness at that time of how important it was for me to be in the Bay, after having lived in Stratford and BC for the year before.
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Reunions
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