Dr. Katherine Winnifred Turton Brearley

Katherine Brearley, who wanted to be called “Kaye” by her friends, loved life. She loved it as much at age 98 as she did at age 33 when she was a graduate student in Post-War Paris; or at age 54 when she became Senior Faculty Advisor in the Faculty of Arts at UBC and Associate Professor in the French Department; or at age 67 when, after retiring from UBC, she began to teach French for the next seven years at Little Flower Academy; or at age 80 when she was finally able to find enough time to purse her passion for water colours and showed many of her beautiful paintings in venues such as “Artists in our Midst.” I remember fondly, and was much surprised at the time, when in 1988, Kaye, who was then 74 years old, asked me to go with her to the UBC Bookstore to purchase a computer because, after mastering the computer, she wanted to use it to produce the next edition of Nouvelles du Quebec, the influential collection of short stories published by Prentice-Hall that she edited with her friend Madame McBride. Kaye was just as adventurous and resourceful at Crofton Manor, the retirement home to which went in her 95th year. Immediately before going to Crofton, Kaye was still living alone in the beautiful house on West 10th Avenue that she loved so much, was busy writing Children’s stories, and at the age of 91 or 92 was awarded a diploma by an Institute of Creative Writing. Once at Crofton, Kaye took active part in many social activities, made many new friends, and especially enjoyed the organized bus trips to gardens and parks in Greater Vancouver. I vividly remember a visit two weeks ago when I found Kaye happily playing bingo. It did not surprise me at all that she was playing bingo. What surprised me was that she was playing bingo with no less than 3 cards at one time! Even the Social Co-ordinator at the Crofton Care Centre seemed amazed that a 98 year old could demonstrate such keenness, intellectual alertness and enthusiasm for all that life has to offer. Kaye died at an age which very few people are lucky enough to reach, yet she still had plenty of life in her and if she had continued to live for another two or five or perhaps even ten years she would undoubtedly have surprised us many more times with her vitality and zest for life.

Kaye’s other passion was helping people. On one of my visits to Crofton a couple of years ago, I found Kaye discussing various non-medical matters with one of her doctors and I remember the doctor remarking, “Kaye, you are still the teacher.” It was in and through teaching that Kaye did her utmost to help people, and teaching for her was not confined to the class room or the lecture hall or even to her office. While at UBC, Kaye did her best to help many students not only through the courses she taught in the French Department, but also in her capacity as Assistant Dean of Women and later as the first Senior Faculty Advisor in the Faculty of Arts. At Little Flower Academy, she would frequently arrive one hour before morning classes began so that she could provide special assistance to any student who needed it. When she was in her eighties, she gave French and Latin tutorials in her house for a nominal fee to young elementary school students; one of these students later went on to do postgraduate work in classical studies at Oxford University and has recently embarked on what is sure to be a distinguished and hopefully long academic career. A few days ago, one of Kaye’s former students from the 1960s, who now lives in Australia, sent me an email which expresses better than I can what I have been trying to say. In the email, she wrote: “I remember Kaye for her generous gifts of interest, time and friendly help, her skilful and perceptive guiding without insisting, recognising and valuing our individual personalities. Conversations and visits with her were always comfortable, and she always made me think, explore paths I had not taken before. I was very fortunate that Kaye was in the Dean of Women's office the day my parents went to make arrangements for me at UBC, and that she kindly agreed to meet me, a stranger, at the airport years later.” Such was the life of Dr. Kaye Brearley. We are not likely to find anyone who can replace her.

Sam

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Brearley, Katherine Winnifred Turton “Kaye” Aug. 12, 1914 in Calgary to Oct. 4 2012 at Richmond Hospital; BA& MA,UBC, Doctorat-Université Paris; Associate Prof. Emerita UBC Dept. French; only child, daughter of Percy & Annie (neé Goldthorpe) Brearley from Yorkshire and Penistone; later stepdaughter of her beloved Dad, Leslie Smith. As a child she moved with her mother to White Rock BC where she completed highschool. She went on to UBC for her BA (‘35) in English, French and History, professional year (’36) in Education and MA (‘39) in English (thesis on Thomas Hardy). At her 60th UBC class reunion Kaye expressed feelings of respect and affection for Profs Larsen, Evans, MacInnes, Soward, Sedgewick, Sage, Cook & Bollert and Mme Darlington. Before taking up graduate studies in Post War Paris, Kaye taught at Semiahmoo Secondary in Surrey BC from 1937-47.Her doctoral thesis on John Morley was accepted in 1951 and she returned to UBC where she was in charge of the Women’s Residence 1950-54 and Assistant Dean of Women 1959-62. In 1969 Kaye was promoted to Associate Professor in the Department of French and Senior Faculty Advisor in the Faculty of Arts and served in these roles until she retired in 1980. A women’s service award with UBC Athletics is named for her. A textbook case against mandatory retirement, Kaye returned to high school teaching at Little Flower Academy 1981-88; after retiring from LFA, Kaye became an accomplished painter of watercolours; her works were shown at venues such as “Artists in our midst”; she enjoyed volunteering with neighbourhood agencies and was active with UBC Retired Faculty. Nouvelles du Québec the anthology of Quebec literature Kaye co-edited with Mme McBride went into its 5th edition with Prentice-Hall in 1995—more than a decade after she left UBC. Kaye spent her last three years happily at Crofton Manor Care Centre and was grateful for the assistance she received from staff. She is survived by friends, family and past students throughout the world who admired her for her unceasing vitality and productivity. Private burial will be at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Burnaby. Arrangements entrusted to Forest Lawn Funeral Home(www.forestlawn-burnaby.com; 604-299-7720).