We will be running a series of articles about people who have touched our City View community. Some historic stories to pass on.
Mary Pitt, the last Mayor of Nepean
By: Jill Prot and Nancy Wilson, Co-Presidents of the CVCA
We had a lovely chat with Mary Pitt over the phone. Too bad about COVID as we would have liked to have met in person.
Mary was born in Hamilton, Ontario where she grew up and went to school. Mary dreamed of being an airline stewardess but instead she pursued nursing and she graduated as a nurse in 1960.
In 1965, Mary married and moved to City View and has lived here with her husband Ron ever since. She worked at the Civic Hospital for a number of years.
Mary, who was always interested in politics, started to work for Mayor Ben Franklin after he knocked on her door during an election campaign in 1970. Mary loves to chat and she offered to help with Ben’s campaign. She never looked back and after working for a while in his office she became Ben Franklin’s chief of staff.
Mary was elected as Nepean’s last Mayor before the amalgamation with the City of Ottawa, from 1997 – 2000. She was the first and only female Mayor of Nepean.
Mary and her husband have always lived on Starwood, a place where they raised their two children. Mary has been a great supporter of the Nepean community including the Queensway Carleton Hospital, the Nepean Museum and the East Nepean Little League, to name a few. She helped lobby for a ball diamond for the handicapped, one of only two in Ottawa. We are lucky to have this ball diamond, which is supported by the Blue Jay’s, right here in City View at Doug Frobel Park.
Mary helped organize a reunion of her fellow nursing graduates for their 55th year anniversary. Many came to Ottawa from far away places and Mary toured them all around. Of course they stopped to tour Ottawa’s City Hall and met the current mayor. Unfortunately the planned reunion for the 60th year was canceled due to COVID.
Mary is retired but never stops! She keeps tabs on City politics, she loves to travel and visit her children and grandchildren and loves to cook. Mary and Ron are also members of our City View Community Association. She has been a great proponent for our infrastructure as she was a victim of a bad flood back in 2004.
Next time you go to pay a parking ticket at 100 Constellation Drive take note that this building is called The Mary Pitt Centre named after our own fine City View resident Mary Pitt.
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