The Smartest Woman

The smartest woman I ever knew was my mum. This may sound trite, but it’s actually true. She was top of her class in French, Math, and Latin in high school. In the mid 1940’s , she was the only woman in the law program from her graduating class at Sheffield University. After university, WW2 broke out, so she joined the WRENS (Women’s Royal English Naval Service) and became a Morse coder. She wanted to join the coding branch but was denied access due to having last name of German origin.

Otherwise, who knows? She may have become part of the famous Bletchley Park coders. Notable women from this group include Joan Clarke, who worked alongside Alan Turing, as well as Jean Valentine, an operator of the Bombe deciphering machine. Mavis Batey was instrumental in deciphering messages from to the Abwehr Enigma, used by German intelligence. Their contributions were vital to shortening the war and protecting Allied forces. But I digress…

After moving to Canada in 1954, my mum never practiced law. She had children and worked as a school secretary here, which was a waste of her talents in my opinion, but she was happy. In her spare time, after she retired, she took calculus for fun and scored 99% in the course! She also played piano very well and rocked the New York Times crossword and sudoku puzzles every morning until she died, just before her 95th birthday.

So, remember, you don’t need to look far to find your personal heroes. They may be closer than you think. Do you have a personal hero? Please subscribe/ comment below.