A grant to McMaster University’s Let’s Talk Science! partnership supported students from at four Hamilton elementary schools to care for and hatch Atlantic salmon eggs in their classrooms over the winter, and then to re-introduce the fish into the Lake Ontario watershed.  Once a keystone species, these fish were eradicated from the lake in the late 1800s.  This program enables children to learn about the vital role they can play in protecting the environment.

 

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The John & Esther Marshall Memorial Fund

"Honouring A Special Lady"

When John Marshall asked a friend to set him up on a blind date for a University of Toronto dance, he had no idea he was about to meet the love of his life. "From the beginning, I could see that Esther had a quiet and steady presence. She was well liked and respected by everyone. She had a good laugh." The date and the dance were a huge success. John married Esther, a Brantford native, on May 29, 1948. Although both graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School, John, who also completed a degree in aeronautical engineering and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1967, says they seldom talked law. "Esther practised for a year in her father's firm, but when the first of our four daughters came along, her attention turned to family and community life."

Esther gave extensively to the community through her volunteer activities, including membership on the Board of Directors of the Hamilton Community Foundation from 1979-1983, the Junior League of Hamilton-Wentworth, volunteer committee of the Art Gallery of Hamilton, and the Board of Governors for McMaster University.

The value of public service may well have been learned from her widowed father, Ross Macdonald, who served as a Member of Parliament for Brantford, Speaker of the House of Commons and a member of Lester Pearson's Liberal Cabinet. When he was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Ontario in 1967, Esther often acted as his hostess for official engagements.

Through a gift of securities, John and his four daughters - Ann, Claire, Mary and Janet - established a fund in honour of their wife and mother who died in September of 1995. The Esther Marshall Memorial Fund is used to make contributions to arts and cultural organizations in Hamilton. Daughter Mary Prime says the Fund is a wonderful way to keep her mother's memory alive. "My mother always put others first. She was admirable in every way and she remains a strong reference point in all our lives."