Scout leader.
Born at Winnipeg on 13 February 1932 to Daisy Simpson (1893-1968) and Alfred Edward Harrison (1891-1932), a few months after the death of her father, she grew up with an exuberance for life and in her youth enjoyed athletics, such as skating and playing basketball, and singing in the church choir. After graduating from Daniel McIntyre Collegiate, she worked as secretary for St. Matthew’s Anglican Church, and then for Canadian Liquid Air, where she spent some 35 years before retiring in 2001.
At the age of 20, she contracted polio, spending time in an iron lung and requiring a leg brace for the rest of her life. Nevertheless, she spent over 55 years as a volunteer leader with the Scouting organization. She was the leader known fondly as Akela, or Skip, of the 17th Scout and Cub group at St. Matthew’s Anglican Church. Throughout the years Ethel earned many awards for outstanding service in Scouts Canada. She was honoured with a City of Winnipeg Community Service Award (1972), Silver Acorn Award (2001), Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2002), Scouts Canada Commemorative Centennial Medal (2007), and a 55-Year Medal of Service to Scouting (2009). Although attending World Scouting Jamborees in Europe, Australia/New Zealand, and Canada were important events for her, seeing her Cubs and Scouts progress through various levels of scouting, to become leaders and successful adults, as well as lifelong friends, gave her even greater satisfaction.
She died unmarried at Winnipeg on 2 December 2009 and was buried in the St. George’s Wakefield Anglican Cemetery.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 5 December 2009.
“Ethel Doreen Harrison,” Crawley Family Tree, Ancestry.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 1 March 2025
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