Player Profile
Player Profile
JOY RUSSELL
by Linda Patton
LP: I know that on June 1st of this year you moved into a new-to-you retirement complex after living in the same apartment for thirty-two years. That must have been an emotional event for you.
J JR: Yes, initially, it was. I had very short notice and moved into this apartment one week after having seen it. Mine is a wonderful apartment and is opposite the elevator which is important to me. I like it very much and call it my ‘luxury hotel.’
LP: Have you made any friends?
JR: I have made some casual acquaintances and several people that I know live here, such as Helen Ellis, the bridge player, and Bertha Gow, who has shown her slides many times to our University of Victoria travel group. This month she will be showing slides of South Africa and it will be of interest to me because I once lived in Ethiopia.
LP: Can you go back in time and tell me about your childhood?
JR: I was born and raised in Red Deer, Alberta. Following high school I attended Camrose Normal School, south of Edmonton, where I received my teaching diploma.
LP: What brought your parents to Red Deer?
JR: Originally my parents were from St. John, New Brunswick. My father was a manufacturer of candy in St. John and was of United Empire Loyalist stock. He and his wife had four children and when the children were very young, she died of what was then called ‘consumption.’ Dad married my mother and they had three children while living in St. John. He then moved the family to Saskatoon and brought with him the flavourings, colourings and equipment needed to make candy (some of these items can still be seen at the Red Deer Museum). While in Saskatoon, Dad kept hearing about the ‘city’ of Red Deer with wide, paved streets etc. This enticed him to move to Red Deer in 1911 where he started a candy (A.J. Russell, Maker of Good Candy) and ice-cream manufacturing business. He would make ‘real’ homemade ice-cream for our birthday parties.
I was the first-born in Red Deer for the Russell family, followed by a brother and sister. My oldest sister died during childbirth when I was ten years old. It was my first experience with death.
LP: I understand you joined the Navy during World War II.
JR: Yes, I joined in 1944 when I was twenty-nine.
LP: Why the Navy and not the Army?
JR: That is a good question. My brother had joined the Army and was stationed at the camp in Red Deer. For a long time he never got away from Red Deer. I wanted to see some of Canada so I joined the Navy. I took my basic training in Galt, Ontario, which is now called Cambridge, and special training in Nova Scotia. I was then posted to Esquimalt, BC, as a supply assistant. There were three categories of supplies: Victualling (food), Clothing, and Ships’ Stores. I loved my job and was able to see new places, aside from Red Deer. It opened the door to the world for me.
LP: How long were you in the Navy?
JR: Two years. I did not join until 1944 because I was completing my music studies. I received my discharge from the Army in Stadacona, Halifax. At the close of the war the Army asked for women volunteers to stay while they discharged the men, and I complied. I marched in both parades in Victoria; the first being when the war ended in Europe, and then when Japan surrendered.
After the war I returned to university in Alberta where I was entitled to receive free tuition from the Government. The rural schools in the North Country had gone without teachers during the war years. The students had been schooled through correspondence, and the majority of these children had no experience with a ‘real’ teacher. During the war the schools were closed for a few months during the winter and opened in summer. I got a summer job at Lac La Biche and taught there for two consecutive summers. There were many Meti and Ukranian children, the Ukranians being particularly wonderful singers.
Prior to attending university, I had been encouraged to seek a teaching degree. I was more interested in chemistry and was thinking ahead to what jobs would be available. After acquiring a B.Sc. in Chemistry and Biology, I went to London, England, and was interviewed for a position by the London County Council. I secured a job at Fulham Central Girls School to fill in for a biology teacher who was ill. The grades (forms, in England) were from 7 to 12. After two years I found myself teaching Mathematics and Religion as a locum. I then went to the Chelsea area by the river Thames and taught there for a short time.
I especially enjoyed the chance to take trips through my affiliation with the British Council (an Education branch of the English Government). The British Council grants scholarships to students from British Territories all over the world.
LP: How did you get from England to Hong Kong?
JR: Well, after teaching in England for two years, I was anxious to return to my ‘dear’ Canada. I got a job in Barrhead, Alberta, and while there I received a letter from one of my former school inspectors asking if I would be interested in going to Ethiopia. I said yes, was sent a first-class ticket, and was off to Ethiopia. This would be in 1952. I did two contracts there, each three years in duration. A new science building had been erected beside the school and it was my job to receive shipments of apparatus etc. and set up the lab. In addition to teaching, I also assisted with the administration of the school.
The students were taught every subject in English from grade 5 up. Prior to that, they spoke their native language or French. Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974, when he was deposed, had taken refuge in England and it was he who changed the second official language from French to English.
One time I was with a group, mostly Americans and a few Ethiopians, who went on a trip to see the famous rock churches of Ethiopia. We traveled in vehicles as far as we could then rode mules for the remainder of the trip. One night we slept in a bug-infested schoolhouse; but, we did finally arrive safely in Lalibela. (To view these churches go to www.galenfrysinger.com) and choose: (1) People and Places, (2) Africa, and then (3) Ethiopia. They are very interesting.
LP: Did you learn the native language?
JR: Yes, and I found it difficult. It has a completely different alphabet from ours.
LP: From Ethiopia, where did you go?
JR: I had been applying to various other schools, e.g. Ankara, Turkey; Switzerland; Toronto; Vancouver and Hong Kong. I also applied at CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency). I went from Ethiopia to England for interviews then returned to Vancouver where my brother was living. While there, I received word from England that I had been accepted by Hong Kong (this was now 1958). I left Vancouver for Hong Kong where I taught Chemistry, Biology, General Science and other subjects for 12 years. There are people living in Victoria now who were my students in Hong Kong.
LP: What did you do in Hong Kong in addition to teaching?
JR: I learned to play golf. I was never very proficient, but I enjoyed the game. I am still a life member of the Royal Hong Kong Golf Club and the Ladies’ Recreation Club of Hong Kong, which has men members, incidentally. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in Hong Kong and still possess a lamp that I won playing Bingo. As retirement age for the British Colonial Service was 55, I retired in 1970.
LP: Did you return to Canada?
JR: Yes, I returned to Vancouver where my brother lived and I took some brushup courses at the University of British Columbia. I then took a short-term job at the Terrace Vocational School. I eventually returned to Victoria where I taught at St. Margaret’s School.
LP: I know that you have done a lot of traveling. Can you tell me where you have traveled?
JR: A teacher friend and I took a 30-day bus tour of South America from Rio de Janeiro to Beunos Aires, and on to Lima, which was wonderful. I have traveled many times through my affiliation with the International Federation of University Women. Their conferences took me to the Netherlands, New Zealand, California, Helsinki, Japan and Austria. These conferences also offered pre- and post-conference tours, and while in Helsinki I took a tour to the lake district. These tours were one week to ten days in duration and were marvelous.
LP: Do you have a favourite destination?
JR: No. They all have their good points and they all have their drawbacks.
LP: I know that you play the piano very well. Did you learn at a young age?
JR: Yes, I have my Associate Toronto Conservatory of Music (ATCM) from the Toronto Conservatory of Music. They offered a teaching and a solo performer diploma; mine was as a solo performer. Now the diploma is called ‘Associate Royal Conservatory of Toronto.’ I started playing when I was nine years old. The piano I learned on was bequeathed to me and is now in the home of my niece in Edmonton.
LP: At what point did you become interested in bridge?
JR: I played social bridge in Hong Kong, and then while on a Caribbean cruise in 1980 I took lessons from a bridge teacher on board who taught duplicate. I won a fraction of a masterpoint (my first) which encouraged me to join the ACBL, which I did upon my return to Victoria. I didn’t play when I returned to Victoria because I did not have any partners and I was afraid to drive downtown to Johnston Street at night. I resumed bridge in the springtime when it was more convenient to park downtown. Matt Smith taught several classes, the last being a course on the Two-Over-One system which I took and enjoyed.
LP: Do you enjoy playing bridge?
JR: Yes, I love it, but I have only 229 points because I do not play a lot. I had a slight stroke at the end of August 2004 which has affected my balance, and my eyesight is not very good. I have attended regional tournaments in Edmonton (three), Calgary (two) and Red Deer (one) and Phoenix. I usually stay in the hotel where the bridge is being played and seek a partner at the partnership desk. I have found every partnership desk to be very helpful. While in Phoenix I took ill, and Sheila Kaye and Bob Sommerhalder took care of me until I entered the Mayo Clinic. They were my guardian angels.
LP: Do you have any advice to your fellow bridge players?
JR: No, I am the one that usually gets advice!
LP: What is your next bridge event?
JR: I would like to take a Caribbean bridge cruise in November of 2006, but my health does not allow for this. I did take an Alaskan cruise with Rita Beny and enjoyed that very much. It was a bit difficult because I had to use a wheelchair on board, but my fellow travel companions were very helpful during the cruise.
LP: Do you enjoy reading?
JR: Yes, but my vision is poor. I do enjoy watching Rick Steves from PBS who gives talks on his many travels around the world.
LP: I know that you are a member of PEO. Can you tell me about this organization?
JR: This group was formed about 100 years ago by a half dozen university graduates who felt they should be helping other women to get to university. There are thousands of members now and this sisterhood recently held an international conference in Vancouver. Their main objective is to award scholarships to women to further their education. I think an education is the most important thing one can do for oneself.
LP: You are now 90 years young. What do you think about life?
JR: It’s tough now, especially when one has illnesses, but I love all the new technology – computers etc.
LP: Thank you for the interview, Joy, and all the best with bridge and your health.
Copyright:
ACBLUnit 431
James K. Foster,
December, 2005