The nurse that cared for the Dionne Quintuplets, Louise de Kiriline Lawrence, will finally be getting the recognition she deserves when a plaque is dedicated to her memory this spring.
The conservation group, the Nipissing Naturalists, applied for the plaque and it was approved by the Ontario government last December.
Now they have to pay for it, and are working to raise the $5,000 charged by the Ontario government for the creation of the plaque.
The group hopes to see the plaque dedicated in Pimisi Lake park, off Highway 17 East, by this May.
Louise de Kiriline Lawrence was a World War I veteran, a Bolshevik concentration camp survivor, a health care pioneer in the Near North, head nurse for the Dionne Quintuplets, a world class ornithologist (the branch of zoology that deals with birds) and author of seven books.
In the late twenties, it was a common sight for the citizens of the Bonfield-Mattawa area to see Lawrence doing her nursing rounds by dog sled in the winter.
From 1939 onwards, she lived for decades in a tiny log cabin on the shores of Pimisi Lake. She passed away in 1992 at the age of 98.
The Bonfield community is holding a musical fundraiser to help raise money to pay for the historical plaque that is being created to honour their remarkable local resident.
If you would like to come out to the fundraiser, it's at the:
- Bonfield Parish Hall (408 Gagnon Street, Bonfield)
- Friday, March 4, from 6 to 10 p.m.
- Local musicians will be coming from Mattawa, Bonfield, Calvin, North Bay and surrounding areas.
