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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday February 7, 2007 - 15 Cancer Society marks 50 years in Oakville By Angela Blackburn OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Jean Malcolm Smith wished kids didn't take up smoking so often -- that was in the 1950s. In 1957, Smith founded the Canadian Cancer Society's (CCS) Oakville Unit in her living room -- with five volunteers. Smith, who herself died of cancer in 1981 at age 78, had an enduring passion for both fighting cancer and education. She founded both the Oakville Unit of the CCS in 1957 -- and then stuck with it volunteering for 42 years. She also founded the University Women's Club of Oakville. Fifty years later, both of Smith's passions are going strong. The CCS' Oakville Unit is marking its 50th year with an open house Feb. 24 from noon-4:30 p.m. at its office located at 635 Fourth Line, Unit 51. (Call 905-845-5231 for details). The anniversary is a double-edged sword -- everyone involved in the Oakville Unit wishes their office didn't have to exist at all. However, as it does still exist, those associated with it are celebrating their successes over the years. None of which would have been possible if not for Smith. In 1957, mastectomies were common and a common type of cancer, breast cancer, caused great fear in women. An increase in lung cancer also bothered Smith. "We feel very unhappy about lung cancer being on the increase. So many young people are starting to smoke," said Smith at the time. Smith, "our Jeannie" as she is remembered by her granddaughter, Toronto lawyer Cynthia Woods, is very much in many people's thoughts, especially as the Oakville Unit marks its 50th anniversary. It was while Smith was driving her sister, Orma to a cancer treatment in Toronto -- to the Hospital for Sick Children as it was before Princess Margaret Hospital was built -- she was aghast that some people were arriving OAKVILLE UNIT FOUNDER: The late Jean Malcolm Smith founded the Canadian Cancer Society's Oakville Unit in 1957. for treatment via streetcars. Back home, she put in a call to the Toronto branch of the CCS to ask what could be done. It appeared the director had been out this way on a few occasions, but couldn't find anyone to run a unit. Smith, a mother of three, put an end to that. "My grandmother volunteered because she saw a need. She was very social, knew lots of people and when she saw a need, she got involved," said Cynthia Woods. Smith was a slight woman with fragile features. She was adept at putting people at ease and quickly earned respect. Smith was a member of the Oakville Red Cross, served as a trustee on the Oakville School Board from 1949-1953, was a supply teacher in Oakville, cochaired the original board of the Good Neighbour Fund (United Way), was a regent in the White Oaks Chapter of the IODE, served on the Board of Stewards and as president of the Women's Association of St. John's United Church, and was a life member of the OakvilleTrafalgar Memorial Hospital (OTMH) auxiliary. In addition to all that, Smith and five interested volunteers founded the Oakville Unit in the living room of her Rosemary Lane home -- the home she and her husband, Malcolm, an architectural engineer, moved into in 1939, at the outset of World War II. Actually the couple first lived on Allan Street and then moved to Rosemary Lane. "My mother missed her friends in Toronto terribly and during the war she worked with the wartime Prices and Trade Board," said Smith's daughter Barbara Woods. Both mother and daughter Woods, remember how much Smith valued education. The second youngest in a Toronto family of seven, Smith was the first in her family to graduate university. She studied arts at the University of Toronto, University College in the early 1920s. Barbara said she remembers her mom's passion for education, noting even at age three she herself could recite the Varsity Song. Over the years, cancer took its toll on Smith's family. It claimed her mother, Martha, and two of her sisters. It was at the time her sister Orma was being treated that Smith founded the Oakville Unit. She led the Unit as its president and in its initial year it offered transportation to and from hospital for patients and made dressings at St. John's United Church. It also gathered new volunteers who learned of the unit through word-of-mouth. It also, astoundingly, raised $5,000 -- far in excess of its $2,500 goal. In 1960, the Lions Club named Smith Citizen of the Year. Smith stayed on as the Unit's president for four years and then continued as a board member, driver and canvasser for more than 40 years. As the Unit marks its 50th year, Smith saw most of them. The only other person who has been in the picture nearly as long is Wyn Moore, who ran the office, first located in the Toronto Dominion bank downtown Oakville, and of whom Smith spoke fondly. Both Barbara and Cynthia said they believe volunteer driving was Smith's greatest pleasure, though she was obviously adept at organization. It was people she really enjoyed and Cynthia said her grandmother definitely had her own ideas, liked to keep in tune with current events and was always up for a discussion. What wasn't discussed too much in early days was cancer. Even Smith's daughter and granddaughter recall that Smith had family members touched or claimed by the disease, but as Cynthia said, "You didn't talk too much about it." Not long after Smith founded the Oakville Unit, it expanded and its volunteer numbers grew from that original five to thousands. In the intervening years, the Unit moved to a new location, expanded services, recruited volunteers and influenced the lives of many Oakville people, those with cancer and those without -- and the subject isn't taboo. However, sadly enough, 50 years later, Smith's words still ring true, "Of all the things I've canvassed for, I've never had anything as easy as the Cancer Society. I guess it's because cancer has touched so many. Nearly everybody has had a friend or a relative who has had cancer." Are you happy with your bank? We Know MORTGAGES LOANS · LINE OF CREDIT "We specialize in hard to place mortgages" 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Mortgages Residential and Commercial Debt Consolidation Power of Sale Refinancing No Up Front Fees Up to 100% Financing O.A.C. 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