Nora was born in the early 1930’s in Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. Her father was an electrical engineer and was Director of the city’s electrical power plant. Nora’s mother came from a successful and respected merchant family. In fact, the patriarch of that business was so successful that as each of the children matured, the patriarch gave each of his offspring a store of their own to run . . . except Nora’s mother! She had run away to get married, despite parental disapproval.
Nora’s only sibling was Doris, five years her senior. Initially, the girls they were sent to a private French school. Nora was only there for 2 years before the Russians invaded the Baltic states and put a stop to any private education (although her sister was allowed to continue in their school because she was close to graduating).
The Russians were greatly feared for their brutal ways, so Nora and her family fled to eastern Germany for sanctuary. During the following years they had had to flee their homeland several times. The Germans would liberate the Baltic states and the Russians would again invade and occupy.
The Russian invaders were illiterate and trusted no one with an education. Even wearing glasses marked you as an undesirable as it meant you could read. Nora’s own uncle was sent to a Siberian prison camp where he died. A close girl friend of Nora’s was also sent to Siberia simply because she was a social elite. She eventually returned but was never the same person again.
When Estonia was under Russian control, people were starving, living on potatoes three times a day plus any mushrooms or blueberries they could find. Nora hated the Russians and described them as looters, rapists and pillagers. The Germans, on the other hand, provided food and were considered gentlemen for providing protection to the population.
Nora was 10 years old at the start of the Second World War. While their family was in refuge in Germany, she attended school. But with such constant interruptions in their lives, it was impossible to obtain adequate schooling. Nora actually lived in Germany until age eighteen.
In 1947, immigration for Europeans opened up and Nora’s sister Doris made her way to Montreal (since she could speak French). In that period, new immigrants had to be at least 18 years old and were expected to work in Canada for a year before becoming independent. Females had to work as maids in a household, and men had to go into logging or mining.
Sister Doris was assigned to a family in Westmount. It seemed a good system as you were housed with a family, had food and shelter, learned the language and culture, and were made familiar with the community. From there, Doris went on as a student at McGill. One of Doris’ teachers in Montreal mentioned to the Symons family that she had a very bright student who had won scholarships and bursaries to McGill, but that this girl had no place to live. Frank and Betsy Symons (grandparents of Joanna Vaughan and her siblings) immediately offered their home to Doris while she was studying.
Nora had to wait to turn eighteen before entering Canada. She was very fortunate, though, because she took over as a maid with the same family where her sister had been. When Nora first arrived in Canada, she was severely malnourished and unwell as a result of wartime deprivation. While working as a maid, Nora did a little cooking but the lady of the house did most of it. Apparently her menu was simply a rotation of the same seven items and any leftovers were simply thrown out. This waste definitely went against Nora’s principles, considering how she had lived in Europe. Consequently, Nora taught her mistress how to make potato pancakes from leftover mashed potatoes. This recipe became another staple in the household rotation.
Because of Nora’s poor health, she was finally tested and found to have an overactive thyroid requiring major surgery. Her physician said that she needed a year’s rest, but of course Nora had no resources to enable this. The Symons family generously came to the rescue and invited Nora to be a guest in their home during recuperation, as they already were hosting Doris while she studied at McGill.
While working as a maid, Nora studied shorthand and typing at night school to earn qualifications as a secretary. Frank Symons was the Canadian president of an American Insurance brokerage (Johnson and Higgins) with its Canadian head office in Montreal. He arranged for Nora to become secretary to the that company’s treasurer. It was at this firm that Nora met Garth Coates, a marine insurance adjuster that had been transferred from their Vancouver office. They lived in the same neighbourhood of Westmount, and both travelled to and from work by streetcar. It seemed natural that they should start to date.
When asked about her European religious background, Nora describes their family as being lukewarm Lutheran. While living in the Symons household, they invited her to the Unitarian Church ,which she soon joined.
Nora and her sister lost their father during the war. (He was buried with honour in the Tallinn cemetery). Again through Frank Symons’ aid, their mother (at age 50) was sponsored to enter Canada.
Nora and Garth Coates were married in 1953 with the bride being ‘given away’ by Frank Symons. In those days husbands and wives were not allowed to work in the same office, so Nora worked at various temporary or part time jobs in Montreal. Later, she worked with her mother in the Registrars printing department of McGill University. Nora recalls with delight the tea parties at McGill where the various professors came to talk and to flog their autographed books. She bought 13 of them! Later, she had to move and sold them — but she discovered the autographs were more valued than the books.
After Nora and Garth bought a house in the suburbs, Nora no longer needed to work. The couple adopted two girls: an infant they named Maris and later a nine-month-old child called Gwen. Nora became an active suburbanite with children, dogs and a garden. She took pottery lessons and still has some of her pieces today. When Nora’s mother wasn’t working at McGill during the summers, she stayed with Nora and Garth and their children.
Not surprisingly, Nora organized a small library in a hockey shack. It grew and finally was taken over by local authorities as a proper building was being established.
Separatist troubles in Quebec ultimately led to Garth’s transfer back to the Vancouver office. Here, they bought a family home in Kerrisdale, where the girls attended school. Soon Nora became involved with the Vancouver Art Gallery — and for 10 years she was the Executive Secretary of their volunteer committee.
Nora and Garth attended the Vancouver Unitarian Church, where Nora became involved in issues of recycling and conservation. Their daughter Gwen went into the field of nursing, married, and continued working in that practice once her children were older. She and her husband built a large home in Seaside Place, a gated community, with an inlaw suite for Nora and Garth. Gwen still lives in an apartment in West Vancouver, and her two sons also reside in West Vancouver.
Maris married and has two daughters who also live in the Vancouver area. Maris and her husband built a secluded home on Quadra Island where he works online.
With Nora and Garth living in West Vancouver, it was logical that they join the North Shore Unitarian Church. One of Nora’s early activities at NSUC was starting our library with donated books, as there was no budget for this.
The couple continued their interest in recycling, conservation and the environment. In fact, Nora has been our chief recycler for many years. Nora ran our church’s grocery receipt program for many years (taking over where Marie Bensley had left off), collecting grocery slips from a West Vancouver store in exchange for a small refund from the store. This program has raised thousands of dollars for NSUC over the years and is still going strong! Nora still collects grocery receipts to contribute, although she doesn’t attend church personally anymore. (She recently handed Ruth Sherwood an envelope full of grocery slips when she visited!)
Sadly, Garth passed away in the 1990’s. For a number of years, Nora lived alone at Tudor Gardens in West Vancouver where she hosted several church social events. As well, sister Doris died a few years ago. Her life had taken a different path. As a highly educated professional, she married another intellectual and produced two equally bright sons.
Nowadays, Nora lives in the Westerleigh which has an abundance of activities for seniors. She makes good use of the available programs such as Scrabble, exercise, and lectures. One of the church activities that Nora really enjoyed (and led for many years) was the Cronies (later known as the “Lunch Bunch”) which provided opportunities for women to socialize and share their stories.
Although we don’t see Nora at church much now, we are obviously still in her thoughts. She declares she is truly Unitarian at heart and she has certainly done her share for our community!