club no. 101 chartered with probus canada

   Probus Club of Ottawa Alta Vista

   sponsored by the rotary club of ottawa

Johnson Insurance

We have added a link to the Johnson Insurance web site (see "Links" page).
Johnson provides competitive rates for Probus members for all kinds of insurance, particularly travel insurance.

March 27 - David Rain
Dr. Lotta Hitschmanova

Lotte Hitschmann (1909-1990) was born in Prague, moved to Paris in 1932 to study journalism at the Sorbonne, returning to Prague in 1935 to work as a journalist while gaining her PhD.
The war years took her to Paris, Brussels (adding the Slavic ‘ova’ to her name) and Marseilles, where she made her first contact with the Unitarian Service Committee (USC) before escaping Europe on a banana boat from Lisbon to New York and making her way to Canada. In 1945 she formed the Canadian branch of the USC and dedicated her life to raising funds for relief work in many countries. Between 1945 and 1984 the USC raised 130 million dollars through her efforts. In 1968 she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and promoted to Companion in 1979.
David Rain worked with USC Canada from 1992 to 2015, the last 7 years as a fundraiser. In November 2016, David established a blog in honour of Dr Lotta and in March 2018 he started a petition to put Lotta on a Canadian stamp.

April 24 - Shirley-Ann Pyefinch
Genealogy Revisited

Since 2005, Shirley-Ann Pyefinch has served as the Director of the Ottawa Family History Centre for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She has lectured throughout Ontario on family history and is a Records Manager for the Federal Government. She holds a master's degree from Dalhousie University in Information Management. Her research interests are in Ontario, Quebec, New York State, England, Ireland, France and in British Home Children.

Her interest in family history began at the age of 12 and has been a constant source of joy to her as she uncovers her family's roots from around the world. You can find her volunteering at the Ottawa Family History Centre on Friday nights where she likes to help others discover their own roots.

Guests and Visitors from other Clubs are welcome.

Meetings are at:

Gloucester Presbyterian Church
91 Pike Street

Pike Street runs north from Hunt Club just west of Conroy. The church is at the corner of Lorry Greenberg and Pike. Parking lot entrances are off Pike.

... to stimulate thought, interest and participation in activities at a time in life when it is easy to become complacent and self-centred.