Born May 30th, 1934, as the youngest child of Evans and Kathleen Bourns in Petitcodiac, New Brunswick, and died September 10th, 2024 at Riverside Glen Retirement Home in Guelph, Ontario. Elinor was predeceased by her sister Pauline (Corey) and brothers Arthur and Gordon, and survived by her children James and Patricia Wright (Doug Campbell), step-children James Nicoll (Diane), Kristina Nicoll, and David Nicoll Jr. (Denyse), former husband David Nicoll Sr., and grandchildren, Samantha, Audrey, Isabelle, Thomas, Peter, Caitlin, Christie, Nicholas, Michael, and Teia, and great grandchildren, Rue and Sofia.
Elinor embraced life to the fullest and faced life’s trials with resilience and grace. From a young age she showed great curiosity, drive, and aptitude for learning. Her diary, at age ten, revealed that her love of books and food were lifelong passions.
She “borrowed” books from her older brothers and enjoyed picking strawberries. “Petitcodiac Girl Wins” was the newspaper headline (1951) when she placed first in the provincial public speaking competition. A year later she was valedictorian at Petitcodiac Regional High School. Some of the happiest times of her life were spent at Acadia University (1952-1956), where she played on the varsity basketball team (always lost, she said), and was a member of the debating team (she was a good talker), while completing a B.Sc. (honours) in Chemistry (Class Vice President).
At Acadia she fell in love with an engineering student, Eric Wright, the father of her two children. Eric did not stay long. In 1959 Elinor was faced with raising two children on her own and earning a living to support them. She soon obtained a teaching degree from Dalhousie University. She stayed in Halifax and began teaching junior high science and mathematics. She taught at St Andrews and later Bloomfield Schools.
Beyond her career in public education, Elinor also worked for a short period in television. In the late 1960s, she hosted the live weekly CBC Halifax current affairs program Interrogative Three. After full days in the classroom, she would leave her children with a babysitter and make her way to the television studio. In a 30 minute evening time slot, she interviewed prominent local figures including, notably, Robert Stanfield.
Elinor was driven to improve the way science was taught; in 1969 she took a sabbatical, obtained a driving license, bought a used car, and drove with her children across Canada to Calgary where she enrolled in the University of Calgary M.Ed. program. Upon completion of this degree, she returned to Halifax and later became Supervisor of Math and Science Education at the Halifax School Board. Elinor inspired teachers to be their best. She brought outdoor science education to urban schools, led workshops inspiring young girls to pursue science and technology, co-authored a series of “hands on” junior high science textbooks (SciencePlus) which was adopted across Canada and the United States, was involved in the development of The Discovery Center, and continued to teach, leading night classes in science education at Mount St. Vincent University. Her work in science education was honoured in 2002 with a Discovery Award (The Discovery Centre).
One of her most unexpected professional successes came when “Industrial Arts” (now Trades and Technology) was added to her supervisory mandate. This was equally surprising to the (all male) Industrial Arts teaching staff. Although it took some adjustment, she earned their support and respect with her willingness to listen and everlasting sense of humour. A group of those teachers continued to write to Elinor every few months until the end of her life.
In 1971, Elinor met David Nicoll Sr. at his ski shop. Within two years, they were married and combined their families (five kids between the ages of 9 and 16, 2 cats, and 1 dashchund). David took Elinor on many adventures; they went downhill skiing, sailing, and, against her better judgement, a ride on his motorcycle (once). Together they shared many happy times with family and friends, especially at Mahone Bay.
Elinor was a proud member and deacon of the First Baptist Church, Oxford St. As Chair of the Refugee Committee, she helped raise the funds to sponsor two Muslim families to come to Canada. Elinor helped them establish family life in their adopted country. She shared meals, talked to school principals, drove them to appointments, and even held a mother’s hand while she gave birth to their first Canadian-born family member.
In retirement, Elinor remained active in the community, and enjoyed gardening, live music, and extensive travel with her friends. She treasured her time with her family, especially her grandchildren, and particularly enjoyed family summer vacations at the beach. Sadly, in the last years of her life, Elinor was afflicted by dementia, which progressively robbed her of her cognitive abilities and speech but never of her grace, warmth and humour. We are grateful for the kind and attentive care that she received for several years from the personal care and nursing staff at Riverside Glen. We will miss her greatly but will always remember her lovely smile, sharp wit, and ginger snap cookies. Funeral will be held at the First Baptist Church on Oct. 19, 2024 at 1300 (1300 Oxford St.Halifax, NS B3H 3Y8)
Donations can be made to the two charities Elinor supported throughout her life; Plan International (https://plancanada.ca/en-ca/gifts-of-hope) or Shine Through the Rain Foundation (https://shinethroughtherain.ca/).