A legacy of compassion and generosity
Sasha Roeder Mah - 28 July 2026
Mary McEachern
Just after the Second World War, when Margaret Mary McEachern left her home in southern Ireland to begin her nursing training in England, she didn’t even have enough money to buy her uniform. “She had to borrow 10 pounds from a relative,” says Trish Young, her niece and a board director of the charitable McEachern Family Foundation, established by Mary to support the charitable giving of her late husband, Steve, and herself.
After she graduated from her basic training in nearby Brighton, Mary moved on to further public nursing training in London, where she met Steve — a member of the Canadian Air Force. After a whirlwind romance, he returned to his home in Edmonton, Alberta and she quickly made arrangements to follow.
To pay for her passage to Canada, Mary provided nursing services on the ship to Montreal, followed by a long train trip to Edmonton, where her first nursing job upon arrival was caring for veterans at the University of Alberta Hospital. Her career then took an interesting turn when she became head nurse for Eaton’s, a department store in downtown Edmonton. Before long Mary was head nurse for all Eaton’s stores across the province. Her office was always a place where people could come to be taken care of, recalls Young. “They used to have an on-call doctor too,” she says, “and she talks about how even he would come to her with his terrible migraines and she would provide a place of respite for him.”
In 1984 Mary became a night student at the U of A as part of the first cohort of a brand new occupational health program — which she completed during the evenings while continuing to work full time.
“They had a decades-long connection to the U of A, and it was very important to Mary to put something in place to support nursing students,” says Young. “She often tells the story of during her training, putting cardboard in her shoes to cover the holes because she couldn’t afford to replace them; she didn’t have access to any kind of financial support.”
The foundation started with a bursary for graduate students in nursing about four years ago, and this fall, for the first time, there will also be an award specifically for students in the nurse practitioner program. “There are a lot of scholarships available already for the entry level, but very little for postgraduate students,” says Young. “My aunt felt it would be important especially for mature students to have that support. It’s really hard to unplug from a paying job and go back to school.”
“It has been so rewarding for her to give to the Faculty — partly because nursing is so near and dear to my aunt, but also because of the relationships we have with people in the Faculty, and how they keep us informed about where the money is going and what students are able to do because of it, which makes my aunt so happy.”
Throughout their decades together, Mary was also a dedicated spouse and administrative assistant to Steve, supporting his successful career as an investment adviser. The two never had children, and when Steve passed away at the age of 99, all of his significant estate that was not set aside for Mary’s daily living and care was to be given to charity.
Mary McEachern poses with her niece Trish Young.
"The McEachern bursary provided meaningful relief from the financial demands of completing my master of nursing degree,” says Jonathan Dotse, who received the award in 2024/25. “As my career progresses, I hope to pay this support forward through nursing education, mentorship, research and service that strengthens patient care and helps develop future nurses."
Says Young, “All her life she has taken care of people, and these bursaries are just a natural extension of that for her.”