QAHN

Family and friends helped legendary archivist Marion Phelps celebrate her 100 th birthday on February 9, 2008. Born the middle child and only girl to a farming family in the Eastern Townships community of South Stukely, Miss Phelps seemed destined for a career in education. After finishing high school in Waterloo, she left to study at MacDonald College in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, reportedly against her mother’s wishes but with the blessing of her father.

“My father took my side with the things I wanted,” she recalled in a recent newspaper interview. Her career choice led her to a stint in the Laurentian town of Saint-Jovite, teaching the children of lumber company bosses before returning to the Townships and taking up posts in Farnham, Waterloo and, finally, Heroes Elementary School in Cowansville, where she worked for forty years.

In the 1950s, Marion Phelps was instrumental in reviving interest in the Missisquoi Historical Society, giving classes in local history and genealogy. Following her retirement in 1959, she was appointed archivist at the Brome County Historical Society and Museum in Knowlton, where she continued to work daily until the age of 95.

In 1981, Miss Phelps received a Heritage Canada Award, and in 2001, the Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network established the Marion Phelps Award in honour of her outstanding volunteer contribution in the field of heritage preservation. “Her life is a legacy and a heritage to us all,” niece Sandra Phelps Marchand told The Record in a recent interview.