PATRICIA RUTH GREENBERG

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PATRICIA RUTH GREENBERG

Died November 24, 2020, at her home in Vancouver, widow of Charles Bernard Greenberg (died 2006).
Patricia was born in Winnipeg on November 7, 1927 to William George Philp and Lena (Lianne) Hilda Philp (nee Travioli). She had one brother, Donald Bruce Philp. All her Winnipeg family predeceased her. As the oldest child she must have shown her extraordinary intelligence at an early age, outshining her younger brother, who never went on to study any form of college education. At a time when patriarchy was dominant it must have irked her when he came on the scene and consequently it fed her feminist standpoint throughout her life.
She had 93 years of life, well filled with love, adventure, joy and some sorrow. Her daughters, Rebecca and Judith, were truly lucky to have had two parents who loved and cherished them. Pat and Charlie lived at totally different ends of Winnipeg. Her family was in the predominantly white, middle class and Protestant end of town, and Charlie came from the north end of Winnipeg where the Jewish contingent lived. They were introduced by her school friend, Ginny Adamson, who knew Charlie's brother Earl.
They got married on the September 13, 1947 in the city of Toronto in a Jewish wedding ceremony. Neither believed in life after death, or any type of formal religion, but Pat did believe firmly in living by an ethical code. Both were excited by the intelligentsia so loved to hang out with the deep thinkers, whether it was in Winnipeg, Montreal, Ottawa or Toronto. This love of education and intelligence was an abiding theme throughout her long life.
Pat followed Charlie many times across the globe once they were married. As he was a practicing architect they moved from the East side of Canada, to Vancouver in the West, and then back again. Then to England in the 1950s, and back again to Canada. They then again moved to England in 1960 as Charlie had become a partner in Chamberlin, Powell and Bon, one of the companies involved in designing Barbican in the City of London, a job that was supposed to be for eight years, but it lasted until Charlie died in 2006. During this time Pat returned to Ottawa to finish her English degree at Carleton University in 1961 winning the Senate Medal for Academic Excellence for being the best student in her year, and studied Law through the UK Law Society when living in London in the 1970s. She loved to study and education meant the world to her. It didn't matter if you went on to use the education you had gained, it was the act of educating one's mind that mattered. She was so bright that she could finish the Times crossword puzzle in five minutes!
After Charlie died in 2006, Pat wanted to return to Canada. She had a variety of reasons why she wanted to go. In reality, like most newly widowed women, she wanted to escape the memories for a time. Pat said that every generation in her family seemed to die in a different country to the one they were born in, and that she wanted to go home, that being Canada. She chose Vancouver where her brother Donald had died in 1965.
Her eldest daughter, Rebecca, shared Pat's love of education and they spent many a pleasant hour discussing their shared intellectual pursuits and discussing interesting books that they had read. Judith shared Pat's love of gardens and gardening, often going to see stately homes for their gardens, or visiting Chelsea Flower Show together. Pat inspired both daughters, and indeed many of their friends, to study things that they loved, regardless of the expectations of the class they were born into or the gender they were born with. That to enjoy learning for what it is, an exercise of the mind, is a gift beyond price.
She leaves her family who will mourn her passing: Rebecca Ellen Tierney (John R.); Judith Claire Farncombe (Martin J.); and her grandchildren, Tamsin H. Ing (Matthew), Siobhan E. R. Tierney (Matthew Kerr), Jessamine C. L. Tierney (Delme Jenkins); and her great-grandchildren, Charlie (Jeremy) Z. Ing, Oliver C. Ing, Aurora Kerr, Finlay Kerr, Archer Kerr, Iris Jenkins, and Rose Jenkins.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Dec 07, 2020