The St. Lawrence College community lost a fondly-remembered retiree with Velma’s death in December 2014. She joined the College in 1974 as a Teaching Master in the Human Studies Department. The following memories were shared by Marilynn Yeates.
Velma, a retired nurse, help start the Helen Tufts' Nursery School at the Baptist Church. It ran two mornings a week. There were 47 children on the waiting list. I called her on a Sunday afternoon and asked if she and I could do two more mornings a week and take 25 to 30 children off the list. Without hesitation, she said "Yes".
Velma also contributed to many College events. Here are a few highlights:
* an ECE provincial student conference where she and I paced the lobby floor until after 3:00 a.m. until the last bus of students finally arrived on one of the coldest and iciest nights of the year; all of the students slept in their sleeping bags on the floor in the gym.
* assisted in hosting such speakers as Dr. Margaret Mead, Ernie Coombs--Mr. Dress-up, and Dr. Benjamin Spock, and
* assisted in running the child care facilities in Clare Rayner's home during a provincial strike.
Velma was a real loss to the ECE Program, faculty, and College when she retired again (in 1992). The following year she was honoured by the Kingston Branch of the Association for Early Childhood Education. Newspaper reports at the time noted that “thousands of early childhood educators – the people we entrust with our infants, toddlers, and pre-schoolers – have benefited during the past 20 years from Mrs. Vosper’s considerable expertise and passion.
Velma, a retired nurse, help start the Helen Tufts' Nursery School at the Baptist Church. It ran two mornings a week. There were 47 children on the waiting list. I called her on a Sunday afternoon and asked if she and I could do two more mornings a week and take 25 to 30 children off the list. Without hesitation, she said "Yes".
Velma also contributed to many College events. Here are a few highlights:
* an ECE provincial student conference where she and I paced the lobby floor until after 3:00 a.m. until the last bus of students finally arrived on one of the coldest and iciest nights of the year; all of the students slept in their sleeping bags on the floor in the gym.
* assisted in hosting such speakers as Dr. Margaret Mead, Ernie Coombs--Mr. Dress-up, and Dr. Benjamin Spock, and
* assisted in running the child care facilities in Clare Rayner's home during a provincial strike.
Velma was a real loss to the ECE Program, faculty, and College when she retired again (in 1992). The following year she was honoured by the Kingston Branch of the Association for Early Childhood Education. Newspaper reports at the time noted that “thousands of early childhood educators – the people we entrust with our infants, toddlers, and pre-schoolers – have benefited during the past 20 years from Mrs. Vosper’s considerable expertise and passion.
