The Hale/Pigott/Cook family have been a part of Ottawa since it was founded.
I first met the three women of this amazing family over 30 years ago when they brought a pair of beautiful aged Irish Setters to my studio for a portrait. I remember working hard with the help of the ladies to get the shot and of course there was no preview like today with digital. I still remember Jean Pigott asking me with a serious tone…”Are you certain Mr. Couvrette that you got the shot.” I replied yes. She added…”Well that is great because we are headed to our vet to have one of them put down….” I swallowed hard and managed a nervous smile and just nodded. To my relief, the portraits worked out fine and made them all very happy.
Grete Hale is like a burst of warm sunshine…I swear I see traces of a mischievous 8 year old in her smile, but a hint of a powerhouse businesswoman in her hand position. She is simply ALL about family and never fails to ask about my two daughters and my significant other. Her annual Christmas card is eagerly awaited and while it is an anachronism is todays world…it is truly appreciated in my studio.
Grete comes from a pioneer family. Her great great grandfather arrived in this area in 1818 to work for his uncle Philemon Wright, the founder of this region.
She has lived all her life in the oldest house in Ottawa, built in 1818. It is rumored some of the stones came from digging the Rideau Canal. Her volunteer work has been recognized by many awards including The Order of Canada and Honorary Degrees from the University of Ottawa, Carleton University and Algonquin College. She received a government appointment to be the Honorary Colonel of the Governor General’s Foot Guards.
Graduating in journalism from Carleton University in 1954, Grete Hale, served as Director of the North American Life Assurance Company, Director of Consumers Gas and as Chairman of the Board of Morrison Lamothe Inc.She has demonstrated her unrivaled leadership in the boardrooms of Canadian business and in the social-conscious realm of the humanities.
I have a hundred Grete stories…but I will close with this one. I once asked her where she got her humanitarian
impulse. She answered that during the Depression her mother knew that itinerant men would leap off the train a few blocks from their house to avoid being arrested by the Railway police in downtown Ottawa. Grete`s mother took it upon herself to bake pies and she would have her daughters walk them down the street to feed the migrant workers…
We need more Canadians like this family.