Shewchuk, Ruth Catherine, 1923-2004
- PA 470
- Personne
- 1923-2004
Ruth Catherine Shewchuk (nee Dulmage) was born in Yorkton, Saskatchewan on February 9, 1923 to George and Harriet Dulmage. She attended school in Melfort and Yorkton and graduated from the Regina General Hospital as a registered nurse in 1946. In 1948, Shewchuk was sent by the Canadian Red Cross to close the Red Cross Outpost Hospital at Paddockwood, which had been the first of its kind when it opened in 1920. Use of the hospital had waned with the rise of publicly funded health care in the region. She served as the head nurse for six months, and took a number of photographs with her box camera to commemorate the experience. During the remainder of her career, she mainly served as a maternity nurse, but at various times also worked with Public Health, the Victorian Order of Nurses, and the Salvation Army. She was a strong supporter of the Red Cross, Girl Guides, Eastern Star, and McClure United Church in Saskatoon.
In 2000, Shewchuk and her colleague, Betty Elliott, head nurse from the Buffalo Narrows Red Cross Outpost Hospital, coordinated a reunion of staff and community that supported the two Red Cross outpost hospitals. The reunion took place in 2002 in the former Paddockwood Hospital, which had been converted into the home of local artist Anita Shaw (current as of 2010). The event featured the donation of a replica of the original Paddockwood Hospital to the Red Cross Archives, and received local press coverage. Shewchuk and Elliot then compiled and distributed copies of a scrapbook containing reprints of her original photographs along with additional memorabilia from the hospitals and the reunion.
Ruth Shewchuk died on February 19, 2004 in Saskatoon. She and her husband, Nick, had two children: Jan and Joan.