Burnaby students looking to become teachers will get a boost this year thanks to one former Burnaby teacher’s dying wish.
Long-time local elementary teacher Wynn (Winnifred) Richmond, who taught at Armstrong, Confederation Park and Clinton between 1964 and 1985, recently bequeathed more than $600,000 to the Burnaby Retired Teachers’ Association Scholarship and Bursary Foundation.
“I’m sorry to say that we don’t know very much about Winnifred Richmond,” association president Rennie Maierle told the NOW. “We’ve reached out to discover more about her and no one has gotten back to us.”
A Vancouver Sun obituary prepared by Richmond herself described her as “an independent, dignified, compassionate and loving lady, who valued a good education and high morals and ethics.”
The obituary gave special thanks to those carrying out her wishes and quoted Sentimental Journey – Doris Day’s first No. 1 hit in 1945: “Gonna take a sentimental journey. Gonna set my heart at ease. Gonna make a sentimental journey to renew old memories.”
Richmond, who died at the age of 89 on Jan. 3, 2015, asked in her will that the retired teachers’ association provide a scholarship in her name to Burnaby high school students who plan to study at a B.C. university and become teachers.
Burnaby’s retired teachers established their bursary and scholarship foundation in 1994.
Since then, money has been collected through raffles, draws and donations, and the interest income has been enough to provide one student at each Burnaby secondary school with a $600 scholarship.
“This has been obviously our biggest donation,” Maierle said of Richmond’s gift.
With her bequest, the association now has two funds.
Its regular Burnaby Scholarship and Bursary Fund has grown enough for the organization to boost its annual scholarships to $1,000 each this year.
Also starting this year, a new Burnaby Retired Teachers’ Wynn Richmond Fund will enable it to hand out an extra $2,000 to one student at each high school as per Richmond’s wishes.
“We’ll be giving away in the neighbourhood of $32,000 this year,” Maierle said. “We’re very excited.”
The retired teachers’ foundation is a registered charitable organization able to give out tax receipts for donations.
To find out more or to donate, write the Burnaby Teachers’ Association Scholarship and Bursary Foundation care of the Burnaby school district at 5325 Kincaid St., Burnaby, B.C. V5G 1W2; call 604-434-0486, or email [email protected].
