Community activist.
Born at Winnipeg in July 1921 to Violet Anne Todd (1897-1953) and James Ogston Cruikshank (1891-1968), in a family of six daughters, she grew up during the Great Depression, an era that shaped the lives of many of her generation. In 1948, she married Melville Ranson Ivey (1921-1984) at Fort Rouge, and spent the 1950s and 1960s raising their three children.
From 1972 to 1985 she worked with the Canadian Hostelling Association, beginning with a small office at her home. Her ongoing efforts with the organization culminated in 1981 with the establishment of Winnipeg’s first permanent youth hostel, situated on Maryland Street. Ten years later, more than 40,000 young people from over 50 countries had used the facility, and in 1991, after her retirement, it was named Ivey House in her honour.
She was also keenly interested and involved in social issues, especially in the area of women’s rights. She served on the Manitoba Advisory Council on the Status of Women, the board of Family Planning (Planned Parenthood), the Charter of Rights Coalition, and the Coalition for Reproductive Choice. Although receiving several honours, what was most important to her were the friendships that grew out of her activities in the social justice movement.
She died at Winnipeg on 13 April 2010.
Birth registration [Arthur Melville Ranson Ivey], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Obituary [Melville Ivey], Winnipeg Free Press, 8 May 1984, page 55.
Mandate, Royal Commission on New Reproductive Technologies, 25 October 1989.
Hansard, Manitoba Legislative Assembly, 8 April 1991.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 17 April 2010.
“Grace Cruikshank Ivey,” Mulvey/Losorelli Family Tree, Ancestry.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 11 October 2025
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