Nurse, community activist.
Born at Elgin in 1924, daughter of Ida Pearl Spratt (1895-?) and Clarence Percival “Percy” Honeyman (1894-1973), her childhood was spent on the family farm near Fairfax. She trained as a nurse at the Grace Hospital and as a psychiatric nurse at the Brandon Mental Health Centre. She nursed at the Brandon Mental Health Centre, Brandon General Hospital, and Fairview Home, and she also worked as a public health nurse.
In 1950, she married Merritt Silvius (1920-1978) and they had four children. In the early 1960s, she worked to establish the Brandon Native and Metis Friendship Centre. Her commitment to social justice led to estabishment of the Marquis Project and Tools for Peace in Brandon. She was a founding member of Westman Communications. In recognition of her community service, she was inducted into the Order of the Buffalo Hunt (1987) and she received a 125th Anniversary of Canadian Confederation Medal (1993).
She died at Brandon on 15 October 2016 and was buried in the Minnewawa Cemetery.
See also:
“Three Mere Housewives” and the History of the Brandon Friendship Centre by Scott M. Kukurudz
Manitoba History, Number 56, October 2007
“Looking back,” Brandon Sun, 25 August 2012, page 29.
Obituary, Brandon Sun, 22 October 2016.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 17 November 2023
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