Donna Benns – My Hero
My Nana, Donna Benns’ story begins with her extraordinary mother, Violet Isabel Stewart, a woman who defied social norms. Violet grew up in Toronto, Ontario during The Great Depression. Violet was deeply involved in her church and her faith carried her through many challenging times. At just seventeen years old, Violet experienced a devastating and unexpected loss of her father, yet took on the challenge of supporting her family which included her younger brother who was only twelve years old at the time. Violet and her brother made sure to take care of each other as they continued to grow up together.
While Violet’s dream was to attend a nurse training program to become a nurse, Violet put her dreams on hold so that she could support her family first. While still in the downturn of the economy during the Great Depression, Violet was able to secure a job as a secretary, a job that provided enough for the family and also provided the opportunity to support her brother through university. When Violet’s brother graduated from university and began working, he returned the favour and financially supported Violet to attend nurse training so that she too could fulfil her career aspirations. Violet trained at Toronto East General Hospital and then graduated in the early 1950s when she was in her early 30s. Violet worked passionately as a nurse, and went on to expand her nursing career by becoming a nursing teacher, during which she taught urology.
Violet’s tenacity to grow her nursing career allowed her to be a self-sufficient single woman in her 30s so that she could move out of the school residence facility, and buy her own house in the early 1950s – which was very unusual for a single woman to do at that time period. Violet however did not stay single for long following her initial foray into home ownership. Violet found love and married in 1956.
Violet and her husband began to grow their family. My Nana, Donna, was the oldest of four children; she was born on July 4,1960, and only 17 months later, my Great Uncle Doug was born in 1961. My Nana was joined by two more children that Violet adopted: my Nana’s younger sister, Heather, born in 1963, and younger brother, Glenn born in 1969.
My Nana’s birth was a unique event that was a testament to her mother’s intertwined love for her family and for nursing. Violet had her nursing students in the delivery room to witness the birth of my Nana as a teachable moment. In the 1960s, it was not the norm to have fathers present in the delivery room, let alone a class of students! Violet’s students were in awe with her commitment to their education. About a decade later in 1970, my Nana’s mother retired from nursing and began teaching piano lessons to the neighbourhood children.
Growing up, my Nana, Donna had always looked up to her mother. Donna was influenced by her mother’s impactful role as a nursing teacher, wife, being an all-around good person. At 20 years old, Donna’s own journey took