CFUW
KITCHENER-WATERLOO
Dr. B. Mabel Dunham Award
High School Award
Since 1957, this award at 14 local area high schools has recognized the woman graduate with the highest overall average in her best six University Entry courses. The current award is $350 per school, for a total of $4,900 each year.
This award was set up by the CFUW K-W Club to honour the memory of Dr. B. Mabel Dunham, who was the Charter President of CFUW K-W when it was founded in 1922. Mabel Dunham was chief librarian at the Kitchener Public Library from 1908 to 1944 and the first woman in Canada to hold such a position. While there, she built up the library’s collections, especially the excellent reference collection. As well, she initiated such programs as the Children’s Story Hour. As an author she contributed to the cultural heritage of Waterloo Region through such books as The Trail of the Conestoga and Grand River.
​
The fund was increased by a generous donation in 1992 bequeathed from Carolyn Haehnel, a fellow member of CFUW K-W and a teacher, and is now funded by club member donations and the annual used book sale.
​
Edna Haviland Award
High School Award
Since 1981, this award at 14 local area high schools has recognized the woman graduate with the highest grade in Grade 12 University Level Chemistry. The current award is $350 per school for a total of $4,900 each year.
​
This award was set up by the CFUW K-W Club to honour the memory of Edna Haviland, who was a charter member and president of the club. Edna was one of the first women chemists in Canada. She had a long and distinguished career at Dominion Rubber Company, later named Uniroyal. During World War II, she was involved in the development of synthetic materials used by the military.
​
The fund is primarily funded by club member donations and the annual used book sale.
​
Hildegard Marsden Award
High School Award
Since 1988, this award at St. Louis Adult Learning Centre has recognized special achievement of three women graduates who plan to further their education. The current award is $500, for a total of $1,500 each year.
This award was set up by the CFUW K-W Club to honour the memory of Hildegard Marsden, a long term club member and founding trustee of the CFUW K-W Charitable Fund in 1985. Hildegard was a graduate of Randon-Macon Women’s College, Virginia and received her M.A. from the University of Waterloo, where she became a lecturer in the German-Slavic Department as well as Dean of Women. Improving the status of women, ensuring choices for women in education, daycare, athletics and legal aid were guiding principles in her life. She was the first woman in Waterloo Region to return to university (in 1957) as a mature student with three children.
This fund is primarily funded by club member donations and the annual used book sale.
​
Parry Michael Zehr Memorial Award
Since 1996, this award has recognized a string player of promise in the K-W Youth Orchestra, who plans to use the award money to help fund his/her musical studies, and will continue as a member of the Youth Orchestra. The current award is $600 each year. As this award was not given for three years due to COVID, for the next several years two awards will be given, for a total of $1,200 each year.
This award was set up by friends of the family of Parry Michael Zehr. Parry was a young, promising violin player who began playing at age five and competed successfully in many Kiwanis (winning first place at age eight) and other competitions. He achieved honours standing in his grade eight Conservatory examinations. He was a member of four orchestras: The Separate School Youth Orchestra, Kitchener Gospel Temple Orchestra, Rockway Mennonite High School Orchestra and the K-W Symphony Youth Orchestra. Parry died as a result of a bicycle accident in 1991 at the age of 17.
The fund was initiated by Marion Schweitzer, a life member of the K-W CFUW club and close friend of fellow club member, Ginger Zehr. Marion wished to honour the memory of her friend’s son, Parry, and encourage excellence in music at the youth level. Marion Schweitzer passed away in 2004 and Ginger Zehr passed away in 2012. The fund has been further supplemented by member donations.
​
K-W Symphony Youth Orchestra Award
Conestoga College CFUW K-W Bursary
Conestoga College Bursary
Since 1993, this bursary at Conestoga College has supported women students in the Practical Nursing program who have achieved an overall average of over 75% in the first year, have demonstrated financial need and intellectual achievement and promise. The current award is $1,000 to each of four students, for a total of $4,000 each year.
This bursary is funded by club member donations and the annual used book sale.
​
CFUW K-W Margaret Dale Philp Award
Wilfrid Laurier University Award
Since 1973, this award at Wilfrid Laurier University has recognized an outstanding female student in the masters or doctoral program in Humanities or Social Sciences. The current award is $4,000 each year.
This award was set up by the CFUW K-W Club as part of the club’s 50th anniversary, to honour the memory of Margaret Dale Philp. Margaret was a past president and life member of the club, who passed away suddenly in 1972 as a result of a car accident. Margaret was a Latin and English teacher at K-W Collegiate, whose illustrious students included Kenneth Millar (well-known mystery writer Ross MacDonald) and his wife, author Margaret Millar.
The fund was increased by a generous donation in 2004 bequeathed from Kathryn Lippert, a fellow member of CFUW K-W and a librarian, as an expression of her life-long love of books and support of literacy. It is also funded by club member donations and the annual used book sale.
In 2019, an additional award of $3,500 was given in recognition of CFUW National’s 100th anniversary.
​
Lenia Chamberlain Memorial Scholarship
Wilfrid Laurier University Award
Since 1983, this award at Wilfrid Laurier University has recognized a graduate student of merit in the Masters of Arts or Doctoral-level program, in the field of Religion and Culture. The current award is $9,000 each year.
This award was set up by the Chamberlain family to honour the memory of Lenia Chamberlain, an active member of CFUW K-W. Lenia was born in Cyprus and emigrated to Canada where she lived for thirty years. She earned a BA in classics from London University (Bedford College), England, in 1965 and an MA from WLU in 1986, concentrating on archaeology for which she earned the university’s Gold Medal for academic excellence. She was a scholar in the truest sense of the term. As well as English and Modern Greek, she could read and write Ancient Greek and Latin and had a working knowledge of French and German. Her knowledge of ancient art and history and her love of books were reflected in her job in the Reference section of the Kitchener Public Library and her extensive personal library. Lenia’s life was tragically cut short in 1998 by breast cancer.
The fund is supported by the generosity of the Chamberlain family, with the hope that the annual scholarship will help other women to follow the example of Lenia’s love of learning.
​
Lenia Chamberlain Memorial Music Bursary
Wilfrid Laurier University Award
Beginning in 2024, a bursary of $1,500 will be awarded to full-time
undergraduate students registered in Year 1 in the Faculty of Music who demonstrate high academic achievement, involvement in extra-
curricular and/or volunteer work and financial need.
This award was set up by the Chamberlain family to honour the memory of Lenia Chamberlain, an active member of CFUW K-W. Lenia was born in Cyprus and emigrated to Canada where she lived for thirty years. She earned a BA in classics from London University (Bedford College), England, in 1965 and an MA from WLU in 1986, concentrating on archaeology for which she earned the university’s Gold Medal for academic excellence. She was a scholar in the truest sense of the term. As well as English and Modern Greek, she could read and write Ancient Greek and Latin and had a working knowledge of French and German. Her knowledge of ancient art and history and her love of books were reflected in her job in the Reference section of the Kitchener Public Library and her extensive personal library. Lenia’s life was tragically cut short in 1998 by breast cancer.
​​
George G. Blackburn Award
Wilfrid Laurier University Award
Since 2001, this award at Wilfrid Laurier University has recognized an outstanding student who has completed his/her third year of the Honour History program. The student must have taken at least one course of Canadian History and must take the fourth year Canadian History seminar course. The current award is $3,500 each year.
This award was set up by Edna Staebler, a CFUW K-W past president to honour the memory of George G. Blackburn. George Blackburn, M.C. enjoyed a varied career as a newspaper reporter, civil servant, radio producer, documentary scriptwriter, playwright, lyricist, composer and writer. His personal accounts of his experiences as a decorated soldier of the Canadian Armed Forces in World War II – Guns of Normandy, Guns of Victory and Where The Hell Are The Guns - have made a significant contribution to Canadian military history and received numerous awards. Mr. Blackburn died in Ottawa in 2006 in his ninety-first year.
Edna Staebler, a well known author and past president and life member of the CFUW K-W Club, established this award to promote better knowledge and understanding of Canada’s history. Edna Staebler was born in Berlin (Kitchener) in 1906, and graduated from the University of Toronto. After a short career as a teacher, she turned to writing, becoming well known for her contributions to various magazines and her books on life in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and the Mennonite community of Waterloo County. Her cookbooks, especially Food That Really Schmecks, won her wide acclaim. Edna won many awards including the Order of Canada in 1996. She died in Waterloo in 2006 in her one hundred and first year.
Since the initial donation, the fund has grown due to club member donations and the annual used book sale.
​
Elliot T. Grasett Award
University of Waterloo Award
Since 1977, this award at the University of Waterloo has recognized the student with the highest cumulative average mark in his/her third year class in the four year honours history program. The current award is $2,000 each year
This award was set up by the CFUW K-W Club in appreciation of a significant donation to our 1977 used book sale. Elliot T. Grasett was a long-term resident of Blair and a collector of rare books. At the time of his death, his family donated to CFUW K-W an extensive private library containing books collected by three generations of the family. They were sold at the Montreal Rare Books Auction, and the money raised was used to establish this award to recognize educational achievement.
The fund was increased by a generous donation in 2008 bequeathed by Nan Hewsen, a fellow member of CFUW K-W. It is now funded by club member donations and the annual used book sale.
​
Women of Waterloo County Scholarship
University of Waterloo Award
Since 2001, this award at the University of Waterloo has recognized a first year student who has attended a Waterloo Region secondary school for at least three years, and has demonstrated academic merit along with leadership abilities. The current award is $2,500 each year. Due to special fund raising for our club’s 100th anniversary, two awards will be granted for the next several years, for a total of $5,000 each year.
This award was set up by the CFUW K-W Club from proceeds of the club’s millennium book project, Women of Waterloo County. The members of the club who created this book are justifiably proud of their work. This excellent book contains original biographies of 33 individual women of our region, two thematic articles and almost 90 historic photographs. The remarkable lives of these women span 200 years, and the women are highly diverse in their accomplishments: a Mennonite fraktur artist, an industrial chemist, a much-published poet. Some of the women profiled gave tireless volunteer leadership in organizations that have defined Canadian society; others achieved ‘firsts’ in librarianship, in education, in political life.
Unfortunately, this book is out of print, but please check your local library to read these impressive stories. This fund continues to be funded by club member donations and the annual used book sale.
​
Proudly She Marched – Jocelyn Cowan Scholarship
University of Waterloo Award
Since 2010, this award at the University of Waterloo has recognized a third or fourth year student in the Health Sciences program intending to pursue a career in medicine. The current award is $2,500 each year. Due to special fund raising for our club’s 100th anniversary, two awards will be granted for the next several years, for a total of $5,000 each year.
This award was set up by the CFUW K-W Club from proceeds of a significant book project by some club members – Proudly She Marched: Training Canada’s World War II Women in Waterloo County. During World War II, Canadian women served for the first time in military uniform, and over 45,000 women enlisted. Two of the largest military training centres for women were located in Waterloo County, army women in Kitchener and Navy women in Galt. Although these bustling military camps were significant parts of their communities, they have been virtually forgotten. These two books took up the challenge of uncovering this history.
This fund was increased by a generous donation in 2010 by the family of Jocelyn Cowan. This fund continues to be funded by club member donations and the annual used book sale. Also by continued sales of these books. The books (one army, one navy) are available for $10 each, plus shipping, by contacting cfuwkw@gmail.com
​
Bernice MacCallum Hilliard Bursaries
University of Waterloo Bursary
Since 2004, this bursary at the University of Waterloo has supported Mature Students based on financial need. Both full time and part time students are eligible. The current bursary is $13,000, split among five to eight students.
​
These bursaries were set up by one of our members in memory of Bernice MacCallum Hilliard. Although she never attended university herself, Bernice encouraged the young women around her and always understood the importance of education and independence for women.
​
James & Edith Davis Scholarships
University of Waterloo Award
Since 2014, this award at the University of Waterloo has recognized two upper-year students, majoring in political science or history with strong academics who have made meaningful contributions through involvement in extracurricular activities in the school or community. The current award is $1,750 each, for a total of $3,500 each year.
This award was set up by Eleanor Kaufman, a long term member of our club, to honour the memory of her parents, James and Edith Davis. Eleanor’s parents were like a lot of parents during the Depression years – hard working and careful savers. Her parents were determined that she would have the university education that was very uncommon for their generation. This photo shows the proud parents when Eleanor graduated with a degree in History and Political Economy.
This fund is supported by Eleanor to help other students in these disciplines.
​
Ann & Geoffrey Power Award
University of Waterloo Award
Since 2018, this award at the University of Waterloo has recognized an Honours Biology program student with strong academics combined with a demonstrated interest in the student of vertebrates, their ecology and conservation. The current award is $2,500 each year.
This award was set up by Ann Power, a past president of CFUW K-W, as well as a founding trustee of the CFUW K-W Charitable Fund in 1985. Ann’s husband, Distinguished Professor Emeritus Geoffrey Power, was the first biologist hired at UW. He was the main designer of the original Biology curriculum and a consultant on the design of the first Biology building. He had a distinguished career as an international fisheries biologist and taught at Waterloo for 42 years. Ann, an historian and teacher, accompanied her husband on many of his field trips and also welcomed many generations of Biology graduate students and others into their home.
This fund is supported by the Powers to encourage undergraduates to pursue the study of vertebrates, a keen area of interest for them.
​
Winifred Walker Award
University of Waterloo Award
Beginning in 2021, this award at the University of Waterloo recognizes a third year Pharmacy student with strong academics combined with a demonstrated interest in enhancing women’s health, who has shown innovative thinking during co-op work terms. The current award is $2,500 each year.
This award was set up by Alison Watson, a past president of CFUW K-W and managing trustee of the CFUW K-W Charitable Fund, to honour the memory of her mother, Winifred Walker. Winifred graduated as a pharmacist from the University of Edinburgh in 1938. Although a move to Canada and raising five daughters curtailed Winifred’s professional career, she retained her interest in learning as well as her health until her passing at age 101.
This fund is supported by Winifred’s family to encourage students in the field of pharmacy.
​
