25th Anniversary Countdown!

Ruth Hall-McMillan has always been community minded. Between painting and raising her family, she always found time to devote to community service. In 1970, she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Being a woman who liked to take action, she made a decision to contribute to her community as a volunteer while she was still able to do so.

During her next visit to Dr. Garth Embree, the neurologist she was seeing for her MS, she mentioned that she wanted to do something meaningful for her community. Dr. Embree surprised her by reaching under his desk blotter for a paper. He said he had the name of an individual whose wife passed away from complications due to Parkinson’s. This man knew there was not an organization for Parkinson’s disease in the Ottawa area, and was willing to provide funding to develop one. Was she interested in volunteering to work with him to do this? Despite the fact that it was not Parkinson’s that Ruth was battling personally, she said yes, and the rest has become history.

Ruth Hall-McMillan and Dr. Lorne MacLachlan December 1978

Dr. Lorne MacLachlan, a prominent Ottawa dentist, was the person to whom Dr. Embree referred. He provided the funding and Ruth Hall-McMillan provided the guidance, determination and hard work to make sure Dr. MacLachlan’s dream was fulfilled. In September 1977, Evelyn Pepper and Jean MacGregor joined Ruth Hall-McMillan and Dr. MacLachlan, and the founding member quartet had their first meeting in Ruth’s home in Ottawa’s west end.

They organized the first public meeting for Parkinson’s, which was held on June 22, 1978, at the Queensway-Carleton Hospital. Their work at securing media coverage was very successful – they were astounded by a turnout of over 100 people, and had to scramble to find more chairs to accommodate everyone.

Dr. Garth Embree, who was responsible for introducing Ruth Hall-McMillan and Dr. Lorne MacLachlan, was the Doctor-Consultant for the new Society, and was the main speaker for their first public meeting. The minutes for the meeting read: “He devoted his speech to the identification of Parkinson’s Disease, possible causes, typical symptoms, existing treatments, and projection into future treatments. He stressed the importance of physical therapy and assimilation of the patient to society.”

It became apparent that the organization should be incorporated. Under Ruth’s guidance, and with support from the MS Society, the paperwork was put in place and the Parkinson’s Disease Society of Ottawa-Carleton was officially incorporated on March 22, 1979. This was closely followed by the Annual General Meeting, held on April 20,1979. At this meeting, Dr. Lorne MacLachlan was named Honorary President for life.

The board continued to meet in Ruth’s home until, in 1980, she was able to secure meeting space in the building owned by the Lung Association of Ottawa-Carleton.

Ruth soon realized that she wanted to devote her time to building this new organization and she made a difficult but determined decision to put aside her painting so she could focus on the Society.

As a result, Ruth’s artistic skills lay dormant for four years, with the exception of her development of the Society’s first logo. It was based on the premise: “Parkinson’s is still an unsolved puzzle”.

Ruth Hall-McMillan – June 2003

Ruth is still struggling with MS, and is a member of the Ottawa Chapter of the MS Society of Canada. But she has also been “resurrected” by Parkinson Society Ottawa. Recently, a new Volunteer of the Year Award was named in honour of Ruth Hall-McMillan, to help celebrate the organization’s 25^th anniversary.

The foundation Ruth built for the Society was truly remarkable. Twenty-five years later, it is still strong and growing. Without Ruth Hall-McMillan, Parkinson Society Ottawa as we know it today would not exist. It is through her spirited determination and creativity that the organization began and that a strong foundation was built. The people she helped put in place created the base upon which the organization was able to thrive and grow. Parkinson Society Ottawa owes a debt of gratitude to Ruth Hall-McMillan.