Anne Ross, C.M.

Anne Ross stepped out into the world at the tender age of 11. Born in Ukraine on September 25, 1911, she emigrated to Winnipeg’s North End in 1922. And in this city, she began her career in nursing at the Winnipeg General Hospital, following education at United College and the University of Manitoba. Finally, she studied psychiatric nursing in New York City.

Ross was first employed by Mount Carmel Clinic in Winnipeg in 1948 as its only full-time staff member, building up the clinic through her personal efforts.

She distinguished herself as a foremost counsellor and executive director of Mount Carmel Clinic, of one of North American’s oldest community medico-social and birth control clinics for almost 50 years. With post-graduate work in psychiatry, she taught both psychiatry and psychology in nursing programs.

In 1995, she established AGR Health Services for seniors. She was the author of several books, including Pregnant and Alone (1978), to impart the facts of birth control to help women avoid unwanted pregnancy, presenting all the alternatives available at that time, in clear-sighted, level-headed terms. Her other books included Teenage Mothers Teenage Fathers (1982) and a history of the Mount Carmel Clinic entitled Clinic with a Heart (1998).

Ross sought to empower women in providing them with the necessary knowledge to make their own decisions.

Her efforts were covered in articles appearing in print media, such as Reader’s Digest, local and national newspapers, she was in constant demand for public speaking, media interviews and radio call-in shows, as an expert in the area of family planning and sexual education.

Ross became a Member of the Order of Canada (1985) and the Manitoba Order of the Buffalo Hunt (1987).

Married died in Winnipeg on August 14, 1998. The Mount Caramel Clinic daycare is named the Anne Ross Day Nursery in her honour.