Unitarians and former educators, Ruth and Ted Humphreys are conscientious planned givers. In addition to the charities they support locally, nationally and internationally on an annual basis, they have provided for specific charities in their wills.   

Under the umbrella of the Unitarian Church, the Humphreys donate to Child Haven, the Ethel May Fund and the Social Responsibility Committee (SRC), where Ted plays an active role. 

With several subcommittees, the SRC addresses issues such as poverty, democracy, environment, homelessness and social justice. This year, in recognition of the 100th anniversary of “International Women’s Day,” initiated by Clara Zelkin in Europe, the SRC provided a $10,000 donation to Sandi Merriman House.

Child Haven, an international fund, was initiated by Bonnie and Fred Cappuccino; a couple the Humphreys knew in Montreal and who, like the Humphreys, adopted children of mixed race. Child Haven, started by the Cappuccinos after they had raised 21 children, 19 of whom were adopted, helps children in “deep need.” Currently, the charity operates in nine homes in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Tibet, providing necessities and vocational training or college after high school to approximately 1,000 children and helping 150 desperately poor women. The charity relies primarily on the generosity of families across Canada.

The third fund, The Ethel May Fund, initiated by an anonymous donor to help single mothers in need, has a four-person committee that governs the fund while five trained social workers are available to assess the situation and evaluate the need. Requests come from the community and men are now included in the charity. In conjunction with the Ethel May Fund, a smaller emergency fund provides food stamps for those requiring urgent help.

Another fund in this category is the food bank, where members of the church make donations over the year. When the fund reaches $500, the church sends the money to one of the six or seven food banks in the Greater Victoria area on a rotating basis.

Outside the Unitarian Church, the Humphreys’ charities include: the David Suzuki Foundation, UNICEF, the Canadian Council for policy Alternative (CCPA), Cool Aid and the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

The David Suzuki Foundation, an international organization that deals with environmental protection and balancing human needs with the ability to communicate practical ways to achieve that balance is “one of the things I’m quite concerned about,” Ted says.

Ruth and Ted support UNICEF because it deals with education. According to Ted, “Education has always been my interest and UNICEF, I felt, was one of the international funds that do excellent work across the world.”

A national program, the Canadian Council for Policy Alternative (CCPA) is an independent, non-partisan research institute concerned with issues of social and economic justice. “We believe that the way you influence government is to inform the public,” says Ted. “I believe that the CCPA does an excellent job of providing a sound research approach to the many problems that plague our society today.”   

The Humphreys also support the Cool Aid Society, a local organization that provides shelter, housing and community health services to adults experiencing marginalization in the Victoria area.

When Ruth and Ted initially selected the groups they would support each year, Ruth insisted they add the Stephen Lewis Foundation to their list. The couple has known Lewis since the ‘70s. “We knew it [the foundation] would be successful in dealing with the AIDS problem if Stephen was involved. It is now part of our selection in our wills.”

Raised in Ontario during the Great Depression, Ted’s father died when Ted was nine. At age 31, his mother was left to bring up three children. “We all graduated from high school, although we were basically a Depression family and lived on relief during much of the Depression,” he says. “My one sister is a graduate nurse in psychiatry. My other sister graduated as a secretary, and I went on and got a university degree and, finally, I got a doctoral degree in education.” Ted says his mother’s contribution was a “huge” influence on his life. “The fact that we were poor also had an impact on me,” he adds.

Ted met Ruth, who came from a farming family in Brampton, at the Canadian National Exhibition when Ted was going to university and Ruth was still in high school. A year later, Ruth also entered university. The couple married in 1955, and Ruth worked as an elementary teacher until they had children. 

After completing a degree at the Ontario College of Agriculture, Ted taught science in Peel County before the couple and their two-and-a-half year old daughter moved to Nigeria for a year, where Ted continued to teach science.

Back in Canada, the family settled in Montreal, and Ted taught teachers at McGill for two more years. Having decided that he should have a doctoral degree if he intended to continue working at the university level, the Humphreys returned to Ontario and Ted attended the Institute for Studies in Education (OISE). With his new degree, Ted got a job with the Teachers’ Federation, but soon returned to OISE as a faculty member, where he stayed for the next 25 years.

Politically active during his educational career, Ted ran in two provincial and one federal election, was a member of the Peel County Board of Education and finally became chair of the board.

While their children, two biological daughters and two adopted sons, were growing up, the Humphreys purchased an old school bus, refurbished it and travelled back and forth across Canada, up to the Artic and down to the Gulf of Mexico “always camping,” says Ted. “We travelled up and down the coast in the mountains and we just loved the mountains.” Ten years ago, the couple retired to the mountains in Victoria.

Before Ruth suffered a stroke that left her handicapped, she owned her own business, designing and creating knitting. “This is one of her pieces,” Ted says as he shows off the sweater he is wearing.

With the help of a live-in caregiver, Ted endeavours to make life as comfortable as possible for Ruth. Every Sunday, he takes her to church, where she can visit the people she knows.

A generous and caring couple throughout their lives, Ted and Ruth Humphreys continue to support their chosen charities annually as well as provide for select charities in their wills.

NOVEMBER 2011 SENIOR LIVING MAGAZINE VANCOUVER ISLAND