May 13, 2005 - Glebe Report

FEATURE Glebe
BY MAGGIE NEGODAEFF
Glebe families come and go over
the years, and some come home
again. One of the most communityminded
is that of the late Irving
Greenberg (of Minto fame)his
still-active philanthropist wife
Shirley, their son Dan, who still
lives here, and daughters Phoebe
and Martha. Lately, the Greenberg
name has cropped up again in the
news, for a generous financial gift
that will help build a new Great
Canadian Theatre Company (now
named the Irving Greenberg Theatre
Centre).
This spring, I contacted Shirley
Greenberg in Mexico and Barbados,
where she resides during the winter,
then in Lake Simcoe. We chatted on
line about her husband's career and
her own. Back in 1956, she says,
while working as a secretary at a law
office, she met Irving, whose
company, Minto, was a client. After
a three-year courtship they married
Irving Greenberg
in 1959, the marriage lasting until
Irving died in 1991. "In the early
days of my marriage and throughout
our time together, I traipsed around
after my husband when he inspected
homes and buildings," she remembers.
And, for a couple of years,
Shirley took over furnishing model
homes, but family demands and law
school finally precluded such in-
Good neighbours good people
volvement, "except for ceremonial
occasions." Her nephews now run
Minto and daughter Phoebe is the
only immediate family member who
is still an owner. "I did not go to law
school until 1973, when I was forty
and my youngest child was nine,"
says Shirley. "I opened my own law
firm, practising in association with
Catherine Aitken, who is now a
judge."
"I couldn't pass up the
opportunity to help create
a centre that would
benefit women in the
community"
Irving Greenberg had begun in
construction "in a small way" in the
early 1950s. Minto was incorporated
in 1955, so this year is its fiftieth
anniversary. Irving was, in fact, the
first person in Ottawa to set up a
condominium, in Parkwood Hills,
where the family lived for a
while. "The impetus to move
from Parkwood Hills to the
Glebe came as a result of
Irving's involvement in politics
(he ran for the NDP) in the
1960s," says Shirley. "We
bought the Clemow property, but
didn't move right awayit
seemed rather large and
imposing." But the couple
warmed to the house and then
Occupied it for 20 years. Now,
son Dan and his wife Barbara
Crook live there.
"I loved living in the Glebe,"
says Shirley Greenberg. "I was
able to get to law school quickly
and later walked to my
downtown office. Yet our house
was on this quiet street facing
Patterson Creek and lovely
parks, and there was no through
traffic. Shops and restaurants
were just a block or two away
and schools were also close.
When I was too tired to cook, I
could send the children to the
Kentucky Fried Chicken!"
Shirley Greenberg has always
been active in the women's
movement. With a few friends, she
founded the Ottawa Women's Centre
on Lewis Street near Elgin. To pay
the rent, they passed the hat at
weekly meetings. "It was as a result
of my involvement that I decided to
go to law school in 1973."
volved in many philanthropic
endeavours, Shirley's
first "big" donation
was to help create the
Women's Health Centre
at Riverside Hospital
(now Campus). "I
couldn't pass up the opportunity
to help create a
centre that would benefit
women in the community,"
she says. This
was a unique project of
which she is very proud.
"My children have supported
me and helped
make this centre a
reality."
Again, in consultation
with her family, Shirley
has donated a substantial
sum to the University of
Ottawa Law School,
Shirley Greenberg Photo: Virgil Broodhagen which is honouring her
this year on June 1. "I
At the University of Ottawa,
wanted to create some-
Shirley Greenberg continued to be thing of lasting benefit to women.
very active, helping form the Although half the law students, or
National Association of Women and even more, are women these days,
the Law. "How did my husband like they still don't show up in leadership
my involvement with the women's positions to the extent that I think
movement? My husband had mixed their talents should take them. Being
feelings. Always for the underdog, more aware of their history will help
he was happy to advance women's motivate them." She was also "very
status and later on to support my grateful" for the opportunity to learn
decision to go to law school, but the and practise law.
early groups were very fluid with no Finally, what does Shirley
history, so...many husbands were Greenberg like best about the Glebe?
wary ...some marriages broke up "The lively atmosphere and neighover
this. The times were very bours who care about their cornexciting!"
munity and are willing to do
Although the couple has been in- something about it!"
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