Eric and Day Gee

Day Walker was born in Edinburgh Scotlnd August 18 1906, but her family moved to North Vancovuer in 1910. She attended North Star Elementary School and North Vancovuer Secondary School, where she was an honours student. Although here family was poor (her father had been killed at Paschendale in 1916 and her only sister suffered from a debilitating degenerative disease), she managed to attend the University of British Columbia on a scholarship, majoring in Classical Studies and working part-time as a teaching assistant.

In 1927 she graduated with honours in UBC's second graduating class. After training as a teacher at the Model School in Vancovuer, she was hired in Victoria in 1928, but moved to North Van High the following year to teach English and Latin. She earned her MA from UBC in 1943.

At North Van High Day met Eric Gee, who taught manual arts. Born in Liverpool England January 28 1905, Eric had immigrated to Canada after the Second World War. The two married November 20 1950 and Day perforce retired from teaching. However, she continued to practice her beloved crafts (needle work, knitting, crocheting, spinning and weaving), to study languages (she learned the Romance languages, Greek, and then Russian), and to study local history (in 2000, at the age of 95, she wrote a history of the UBC Classics Department).

Eric Gee died in 1993 and Day May 3 2003. Between them, they have funded a number of scholarships, including this one, which alternates between an academic student and a technology student.