All in the family

A new exhibit at St. Joseph’s Hospital showcases generations of families that have contributed to the legacy of the hospital dating back to its earliest days.

American author Alex Haley famously wrote “in every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future.” At St. Joseph’s, this is true both figuratively and literally.

Throughout the ages, the ‘ties that bond’ at St. Joseph’s Hospital can be traced to generations within families who have contributed significantly to the legacy of the hospital. In a fascinating new exhibit in the heritage corner of St. Joseph’s Hospital, these family connections are showcased, highlighting some intriguing family trees with deep roots at St. Joseph’s.

“It’s not unusual to hear St. Joseph’s employees refer to each other as family, but as it turns out, many of them actually are,” says Noelle Tangredi, keeper of the St. Joseph’s Hospital and Nursing School Artifact Collection. “This latest exhibit is a glimpse of proud family stories that take place at St. Joseph’s Hospital.”

One particularly leafy family tree is that of the Woolson family. It begins when two sisters, Helen and Margaret, graduated from St. Joseph’s Nursing School - Helen in 1904 and Margaret in 1908. Margaret’s daughter, Mary, followed in her mother’s footsteps, graduating in 1931, and would marry a young intern at St. Joseph’s, Dr. Evarist Durocher. Their daughter, Margaret, would also don a nursing cap at St. Joseph’s and marry a physician - otolaryngologist Dr. Gordon LeBoldus, who retired in 2020 after 60 years of practice.

The Woolson ties go on to yet another generation for a total of four generations over 90 years. Various other former staff and physicians also stem from the Woolson branches - a cousin, niece, uncles and father-in-law. One relative of the original sisters, niece Cherie Lind Woolson Fry, kept a letter of encouragement she received from her Aunt Helen on official St. Joseph’s School of Nursing letterhead in 1957, just as Cherie was to begin her training at the nursing school.

Cherie Fry — Cherie Lind Woolson Fry, a niece of Helen Woolson, kept a letter of encouragement she received from her aunt in 1957, just as Cherie was to begin her own training at St. Joseph’s School of Nursing. The letter is among the artifacts on display in the current “All in the Family” exhibit.

“I do hope Cherie that you will not get homesick coming so far from home, but I can assure you that on completion of your training here you can face any type of nursing that you want to,” wrote Helen. “This school is very exacting and demands a great deal from each student, but it pays off so well in the final test.”

The illustrious Thompson family tree is also woven into the history of St. Joseph’s Hospital dating back to the early 1900s. Eye, ear, nose and throat specialist Dr. Septimus Thompson practiced at St Joseph’s Hospital for 50 years before retiring as a highly respected physician and leader in 1946, just as his son Dr. Charles Thompson was beginning his career in the same specialty. Charles later confined his practice to ophthalmology and would see patients at St. Joseph’s until he retired at age 90. For many years, he also provided expert eye care, often at his own expense, to Indigenous people in distant Arctic communities and remote parts of Newfoundland, Labrador, and Northern Ontario.

The Stevenson doctor brothers, meanwhile, were notable beyond the operating room. Both Hugh, an anesthesiologist, and William, a surgeon, were generous benefactors to St. Joseph’s Hospital and active in city politics with Hugh the Mayor of London from 1915 to 1917.

The Tillmanns would also contribute to the development of St. Joseph’s in more than patient care, teaching and research. Quite literally, the building blocks of St. Joseph’s are cemented in the Tillmann legacy.

Dr. William Joseph Tillmann was renown in the field of paediatrics and for a life-time of service devoted to the poor while his son, Dr. William Anthony Tillmann, founded the Department of Psychiatry at St. Joseph's Hospital in 1952, which became a model of general hospital psychiatry adopted across the country.

Another son, Peter, contributed to St. Joseph's Hospital in a very different way — as an architect. He designed two new wings and several additions and changes to St. Joseph's that were completed in 1954. Continuing in Peter’s footsteps is his son Tom Tillmann – architect and partner with Architects Tillmann Ruth Robinson. Tom and his team designed the latest renovations and new builds at St. Joseph's Hospital, the Mental Health Care Building at Parkwood Institute and Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care – winning design awards and accolades for St. Joseph’s of today.

These family stories and many more have shaped the culture, lore and expertise of St. Joseph’s Hospital, firmly entrenching physicians and staff and among the city’s most dedicated pioneers.

Today, generations of families continue to make their mark at St. Joseph’s across all sites. Not only do they carry on proud traditions within their own families, but also that of an organization - the expansive and impressive St. Joseph’s family. Here, current staff share their family connections and traditions of working at St. Joseph’s: