Barbara Ruth Penny (nee Mapletoft)
Born March 7, 1929, passed away peacefully of natural causes at Errinrung Nursing Home in Thornbury, Ontario with family by her side on Saturday September 11, 2021. Barb dedicated her life to giving to others and to helping preserve the environment. She was born in London, Ontario during the depression. Her family had strong ties to the church, where her father led the music on organ and with choir. Barb used to tell stories of her family opening their home for meals to others in need. Barb learned as a child to live by the “Golden Rule”, emphasizing the importance of mutual respect. All her life, she volunteered her time to developing programs and organizations that help and enhance the lives of others. Often, Barb’s family members are approached by individuals, recalling how Barb quietly helped them during their time of need.
Barb was married to Arthur Frederick Penny (“Fred”) in 1948. They raised six children Dave (Linda), Kate (Stuart Lefroy), Paul (Karen), Jane, Susan and Sarah (Trevor Freeborn). Their family grew from there. To date, Barb and Fred have 14 grandchildren and 20 great grandchildren. Barb is pre-deceased by her parents, sister, grandson Kristopher and husband Fred.
Until her final hours, Barb packed every day living with positive energy and caring about others.
She was humbly proud of her various accomplishments; co-founding the Etobicoke Girl’s Home, opening various drop-in centres including the Trinity Church Distress Centre at the Eaton Centre that remains open today. She was an active member of the Blue Mountain Foundation for the Arts, the Senior League, Pretty River Probus Club, Friends Club, Blue Mountain Bridge Club, Craigleith Ski Club, Blue Mountain Golf Club, Marsh Street Centre; just to name a few.
Barb was active in local hospital auxiliary, school parent counsel, Community Living and was part of the founding team for My Friends’ House in Collingwood. If there was a group in need of a volunteer or support person, Barb was the person to ask! She also worked over the years as a supervisor with the Red Cross Homemakers and Foodland Ontario, travelling Grey, Bruce and Simcoe counties promoting Ontario grown produce.
Barb’s energy, love and enthusiasm will be dearly missed by her friends and family. A private family ceremony will take place this coming Thanksgiving weekend that will include a family feast and time together in nature at her favourite place, the cottage. We encourage others who have loved her to participate in a similar activity over that same weekend. In lieu of planting a tree through this site, if you wish to donate in Barb’s memory, please donate to the cause closest to your heart.
LIFE STORY
A Speech by Barb Penny to the Pretty River Probus Club, presented a few years ago and a copy of it was handed to each of her children, the day after her death, September 11, 2021.
“Here goes. Everything that I mention in this ramble because of the profile thing may sound like individual accomplishments, ‘nothing is ever completed without lots of people’s input’.
I was born March 7, 1929 in London Ontario in the middle of a snowstorm and the depression, I am told.
I was totally oblivious of the depression until later years when I realized why we had had constant guests eating lunch at our back door or our kitchen table.
My mother and dad Leita and Ewart Mapletoft met while employed at the C.N.R. Freight office. My mom was cashier and my dad was a freight agent and accountant. Both were amazing with numbers and would surprise our kids by out racing them with calculators in both addition and multiplication.
The other reason I was unaware of the depression was my father’s music. He had studied and was a fine musician. He was church organist and choir master as well as a tenor soloist.
The church, because it helped feed us, became a major part of my life.
The “Golden Rule”, which I was taught to live by, was introduced to me by my Sunday school teacher at an early age in the form of the “Golden Gloves”.
Because my dad was church organist, we were expected to participate like a minister’s family. I sure didn’t miss many church services, little helpers CBIT young people’s Sunday school and choir practices which were Friday nights (school dance night) and I enjoyed in all. (I didn’t know any better).
I had a great childhood. My friends ranged from Mary Labatt to Tony the Tramp. One of my joys living in London was the city dump. There were wonderful prizes to be found from discards of the glass factory. On our way home we would chat with the men who I guess lived in a ho-bo jingle and played cards on a makeshift table under the trees at the edge of the dump. Life was so different then.
The church for me was music oriented and from Mrs. Bailey (the golden glove lady) I picked up the fact that I could save the whole world.
I was sick one winter when I was about 6 or 7 and asked for a Shirley Temple doll for Christmas. My mother must have spent hours outfitting this delight with every costume for every season including underwear. Mrs. Bailey encouraged us every week to help the poor. One Sunday this hit a nerve, close to my birthday I decided to give the most special thing I owned. I proudly presented the Shirley Temple doll with the entire wardrobe.
What could my Mom say? However, in later years even she laughed about it.
Music again indirectly helped plant another seed for social work. My dad loved opera and had volumes of information on the subject.
He would read to us on Saturday morning and then expected that we would recognize his interest and listen to the operas on Saturday afternoon. My sister Marge was six years older than I and I think was totally interested. I wanted to go to the movies. As a compromise, I was allowed to visit friends either through windows at the Sanitarium or at Parkwood Hospital, where friends were recovering hopefully from iron lungs. These visits turned out to be really fun, not only for the patients and myself but we were soon joined by the movie goers.
Teenage was fun with all the high school stuff; sports, glee club, playground supervisor but, the highlight was grade 13 when, because of my disturbance in biology class, I was moved to the front row to sit with a person who was picking up the course with rehab. It turned out to my best friend, father of my kids, and husband. It was the beginning of the very best team.
We returned to that classroom some years later with five of our kids and the teacher was quite impressed with our experiment.
We have six wonderful kids. Five in seven years and number six, 13 years later when I was 40.
Four girls, two boys. 4 great spouses in-law, the joy of 14 grandchildren. (Edit note; Now also 20 great grandchildren) One sadly is not with us but Kris will never be forgotten.
(My husband) Fred worked as a power line inspector for the Hydro and then with G.E. which we referred to as the Generous Electric Company. We purchased a magnets factory. Electronics was Fred’s forte and we were on the road up that great tall ladder of success.
We built a cottage at Dorset. The kids and I moved up the end of June and returned Labour Day. It was Penny’s summer camp. Life was good.
Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately for us, everybody hasn’t lived by the Golden Rule and because of misguided trust, we lost our company and had to start over including a complete career change for Fred. Life goes on and went on. Pick up the pieces and start over. The new career as an insurance broker actually gave us many wonderful trips, all over the world.
We moved to Toronto soon after our marriage and by the time our oldest was ready to play little league baseball, there was no league close by. Fred and some other guys started the Bloordale Baseball League in our living room in 1957. It continues as we speak, having given thousands of kids the chance to play ball. Our garage housed the equipment and my washing machine washed the uniforms. We have never had a garage with a car in it.
I was, needless to say, a stay at home mom. I belonged to choirs and singing groups but never church choirs as we joined Craigleith Ski Club in 1959, which cuts into church going and in my case caused some guilt. However, we had all the kids baptized and confirmed and they are all nice human beings and good citizens.
When the kids were all in school, (the first five) I volunteered at the Anglican Information Centre located behind downtown Eatons in Holy Trinity Church. It was where the Distress Centre started but originally found food and shelter as well as jobs for migrants and the homeless. At that time, Yorkville was in full swing as a drug haven. I was involved at the church (both Holy Trinity and our local Church) during the week. Our kids were teenage, and it was obvious that besides school, they needed an outlet after school.
Bob Grisdalae was the curate at our church and between the two of us, we decided to open a coffee house (honour system 25 cents for hot chocolate and cookies, which I made). We had a great response. I served or read in a back room and the kids played games, cards, etc. in the big room. Kids, mostly girls, started to drop into my little room occasionally and through these conversations it became really obvious that there was a great need for some of these kids to temporarily (hopefully) be away from their homes. I was thinking when I was writing this that it was really a child’s version of My Friends House.
Again, Bob Grisdale and I said why not, and with the help again of my buddy Fred, arranged the purchase of a rectory that was for sale at 99-9th Street in New Toronto. The Etobicoke Girls Residence was opened. My family (boys collected donated furniture and we opened on schedule whatever that was. It was only about a year. This house is for girls between the ages of 14 to 19 who for some reason can’t live at home but must stay in school. I had the privilege of cutting the cake 3 or 4 years ago on I think the 25th anniversary when to my pleasure, doctors, lawyers, you name it, returned, some with their children. I guess of all the things I have done in my life with the exception of my family, that day said it all. (Editor note; This home finally closed at the start of COVID).
In 1975 when Sarah, our youngest was 5, we moved to Craigleith to our chalet, added a couple of rooms and called it home.
Soon after we moved here the Blue Mountain Foundation for the Arts was formed. It started, as you probably know, to house a music school (a story in itself). However, the members committee was formed in our various houses (districts) and the combination became the Performing Arts Committee which promoted concerts hopefully to pay off the debt from the music school. (I think it and other sources was successful). I resigned a year ago. It is close to my heart but time to move on.
At the time, the Red Cross was looking for a Homemaker Supervisor and I was approached and in spite of not being a nurse, I think some of the happiest situations of my life happened.
Homemakers are without a doubt the best people. I worked out of my home so the job that was supposed to be a certain number of hours a week became almost anytime. I loved every minute of it and for the first time in my married life I was being paid.
The homemakers were my friends, the clients were my friends, the whole home-care crew under the direction of Fran Dance were my friends and the memories are immeasurable.
In 1984 the Senior League was founded and named by 10 women who were slightly over 40. We thought it was funny at the time but as time goes on, so do the ages. It was formed to fund an All Arts Centre which has continued to be a dream of mine (and now has happened). However, at the time because of so much red tape, we changed our focus to the environment and bought the Feversham Gorge. The Senior League is a great organization and does make changes.
Since we moved here from Toronto in 1975, I have sung in choirs, have been a board member of Collingwood Hospital, a director of the, then called Association for Mentally Retarded during workshop founding, Founding Director of My Friends House and Fund Raising Director for Theatre Collingwood. I have volunteered for High School Olympics, Special Olympics and Kids Against Drugs.
Before Ladies Probus, I thought it would be fun to have a Canadian Women’s Club here. After research, I discovered that it would not only be almost a full-time job but expensive for everyone involved so decided to start our own groups. It is called Friends. Unstructured and was expected to fold after Probus started. However, it’s going strong and as lots of you know, welcomes everyone.
We moved to Clarksburg 2 years ago which was for us, a super change.
The best part of my life, which is true for all of us, is to have so many wonderful people to call friends who I would be there for and I know, they for me, just like Mrs. Bailey, the Golden Gloves lady said. Thank you.”
Editor note;
This was originally written by Barbara Ruth Penny as a speech for The Friend’s Group. A hand-written version of this was given to each of Barb’s children the day after her passing.
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Barbara Ruth Penny Mapletoft Saturday September 11th 2021..
Death notice for the town of: FLESHERTON, Province: Ontario