Lifelong volunteers and longtime Ladysmith residents Irene Telford and Loretta Schoonarts received recognition for their lengthy public service records earlier this spring.
Schoonarts — president of the Ladies’ Auxiliary (LA) with the Royal Canadian Legion (RCL), Branch 171 — and Telford, the LA’s current secretary-treasurer, were awarded Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medals at a joint RCL-Ladies Auxiliary convention hosted by the RCL’s BC/Yukon Command in Whistler, B.C., May 25-29.
Telford and Schoonarts, both “life members” of the LA, learned of their awards in late February, and they were “shocked” by the news.
“It was a complete surprise,” Schoonarts added.
The dynamic duo remains unstoppable as they settle into their golden years.
Schoonarts, now 80, said she was born and raised here in Ladysmith, and she’s been a community volunteer for more than 60 years.
She’s served with the LA for 39 years, with the Ladysmith Healthcare Auxiliary (LHA) for 28 years — Schoonarts is a current LHA supervisor, she said — and a number of other service organizations, including the Eagles.
“I don’t know when to give up,” Schoonarts added. “In three months, I’ll be 81.”
As the widow of a Second World War (WW2) Veteran, Schoonarts listed monthly visits with elderly WW2 Veterans as one of the highlights of her service career.
“We’d go to their homes in uniform, because they liked that, and they’d get talking about their experiences with us,” Schoonarts said. “I really enjoyed that. I did that for over 10 years.”
Telford, meanwhile, said her penchant for volunteerism stretches back to her childhood.
“My mother says that I was six years old when I started,” Telford said. “During [WW2], the Brownies learned to knit facecloths to send overseas for the Servicemen.”
She continued volunteering through her teens and into adulthood, adopting leadership roles with the now-defunct Kinsmen Mothers’ March and with the local chapter of the BC Cancer Society, Telford said.
She’s served with the LA for 26 years and with the LHA for 25 years.
As the current president of the LHA, Telford said she and Schoonarts have helped fund the purchase of a Jaws of Life and a defibrillator for Ladysmith Fire/Rescue and a mammoth floating trampoline for the Frank Jameson Community Centre pool.
“We donated over $100,000 in the last three or four years,” Telford added.
Fellow LA member and Queen’s Medal recipient Linda Burwood submitted a nomination on their behalf last July, Telford said.
