Yukon who is who

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Alice Agnes "Nancy" Firth (1911 - 1985)

Nancy Firth was born in Fernie, British Columbia, a coalminer's daughter to Scottish parents Eliza and Patrick Hughes. Nancy left school after grade 8 to get a job as a department store clerk to contribute to her large family's income. Her husband to be, Howard Firth, was a Dawson-born Bank of Commerce clerk. They planned to marry but Nancy was Catholic while Howard's father was the Grand Mason for BC/Yukon and his mother was a Christian Scientist. Howard converted to Catholicism and they courted for five years. Howard's low-paying job was an obstacle until Howard's father directed him to marry Nancy and move back to Dawson where he was to help run T.A. Firth Insurance. Howard and Nancy married in August 1937 and moved north.((John Firth, "Alice Agnes 'Nancy' Firth, Dec. 1, 1911 - August 4, 1985." //North to New Horizons,// History Committee of the Pioneer Women of the Yukon Society, 2025: 13-16.))

Nancy felt out of place in the well-educated, worldly, and Anglican class-conscious society that her husband's family and business connections placed her. In defense, she read books and magazines to broaden her world view and learned to play the piano and organ. She joined the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire (IODE), the Tuesday Night Club of women sewers, and the Nutty Club of women who eventually published a local newsletter. An early friend, Emilie Tremblay, helped with socially-acceptable dress and manners. She became a skilled hostess and welcomed government ministers and ambassadors. She was a stay-at-home mother with five children born between 1938 and 1950, with a sixth child adopted in 1955.((John Firth, "Alice Agnes 'Nancy' Firth, Dec. 1, 1911 - August 4, 1985." //North to New Horizons,// History Committee of the Pioneer Women of the Yukon Society, 2025: 13-16.))

Nancy joined the Catholic Women's League and, after the family moved to Whitehorse, became a supporter of Mary House, volunteered in the Whitehorse Thrift Store, and helped to found the Yukon YWCA.((John Firth, "Alice Agnes 'Nancy' Firth, Dec. 1, 1911 - August 4, 1985." //North to New Horizons,// History Committee of the Pioneer Women of the Yukon Society, 2025: 13-16.))