Educator, community activist.
Born at Wanjara, India in 1926, daughter of Sant Pal Singh Dhillon and Chetan Kaur Dhillon, she and her family moved to Jalandhar, Punjab during civil unrest during the Partition in 1947. She received BEd and MEd degrees from the University of Punjab as well as a degree in Physical Education.
In 1959, she married Udey Pal Singh Deol (?-1986) and they had three daughters. The family moved to Canada where she was Principal of the Caroline McMorland School for the Mentally Handicapped at Toronto, Ontario while taking summer courses toward a MA degree at the University of Toronto and a Certification in Special Education from York University.
In 1975, her family purchased a dairy farm near Beausejour and she continued teaching, first at Edward Schreyer School and, starting in 1986, at Maples Collegiate. She retired in 1991.
A devout woman, she was the first female President of a Sikh Gurdwara in North America, at the Gurdwara Singh Sabha in Winnipeg. She assisted many newly arrived immigrants after their initial arrival. She was a New Democratic candidate for the Inkster constituency in the 1990 provincial general election. In 2002, she was appointed to the Manitoba Human Rights Commission and served there for nearly 20 years. She was active with the Boys and Girls Club of Winnipeg, Seven Oaks School Board, Seven Oaks Hospital Foundation, Women’s Immigrant Settlement Association, and Manitoba’s Intercultural Council.
In recognition of her community service, she was inducted into the Order of Manitoba (2002) and she received a Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2002) and honorary doctorate from the University of Winnipeg (2013).
She died at Winnipeg on 11 February 2024.
Obituary [Udey Pal Singh Deol], Winnipeg Free Press, 28 June 1986, page 62.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 17 February 2024.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Oliver Bernuetz (Legislative Library of Manitoba).
Page revised: 14 November 2024
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