Lorraine Shirley Woods-Bavasah thrived in the face of adversity and broke barriers — from growing up on a Manitoba farm to raising two kids in a time of considerable stigma against single mothers.
A loving and supportive mom, she balanced her responsibilities at home while pursuing a university degree and career that saw her become a pioneering home economics teacher in Winnipeg.
“I was always most proud of her for being a single parent in the ‘50s and ‘60s and providing us with a normal life,” said her son, Jeff Woods.
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Woods-Bavasah enjoyed family gatherings, travelling and watching productions at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre in her retirement.
“She provided everything we needed and probably a lot of what we wanted. She was a wonderful provider under unusual times then.”
Woods-Bavasah’s daughter, Jody Reaburn, said her mother — strong and determined — accomplished things that weren’t easy for women in her position.
“The strength of her character and resilience did not let her situation stand in her way of what she wanted to do,” she said.
Reaburn was in awe of those accomplishments when she discovered plaques and other forms of recognition while going through her late mother’s belongings.
Woods-Bavasah, 91, died peacefully at Misericordia Health Centre on Jan. 22.
Born Aug. 1, 1932, she grew up on a family farm in Starbuck, southwest of Winnipeg, with her parents, Bernice and Joseph Todd and sister Valerie.
The siblings helped their father haul grain to elevators during harvest. Depending on the season, a horse-pulled cart or sled would often transport them to a one-room school that Woods-Bavasah attended from grades 1 to 8.
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Lorraine Woods-Bavasah was born in August 1932 and grew up on a family farm in Starbuck, southwest of Winnipeg.
Her childhood summers were filled with activities, including swimming and dancing at Lido Plage, picnics and family holidays to Winnipeg Beach or further afield to destinations such as Banff and Toronto.
Winters were busy with ice skating and curling. She learned to play the piano and became an avid cribbage and canasta player.
Woods-Bavasah’s mother was very “pro-education,” which Woods-Bavasah instilled in her own children, Reaburn said.
“She valued post-secondary education,” Woods added. “She made sure my sister and I were both tuned into that.”
After high school in Starbuck, Woods-Bavasah enrolled in home economics at the University of Manitoba. In the following years, she had her two children and began raising them on her own when they were at a young age in the 1950s.
She faced societal stigmas in a period when fewer supports were available to single mothers. Her children said she overcame any challenge or hurdle in her path.
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Woods-Bavasah’s children, Jeff Woods (pictured with his mother) and Jody Reaburn, fondly recalled summer camping trips that took the family across Canada.
She completed her home economics degree and later took classes at night and in the summer to obtain a diploma in education.
Looking back, her children recognize how much she sacrificed and how exhausted she must have been while raising a family, working and studying.
Woods-Bavasah began her teaching career in Dauphin before returning to Winnipeg. She taught at Elmwood High School and then St. John’s High School in the North End for 22 years before her retirement in 1989.
Reaburn said her mother was adventurous for a young single parent. Woods-Bavasah took her kids on road or camping trips to Whiteshell Provincial Park and Dawson Creek and Vancouver in British Columbia.
In 1967, the family piled into a car — possibly a 1965 AMC Rambler, said Woods — and headed east to Expo 67, the world’s fair in Montreal. They camped along the way to and from Quebec.
“That was pretty adventurous with these two little kids hanging around,” said Woods.
“Back then, the cars weren’t great,” Reaburn added. “You always had some kind of car issue to deal with.”
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As children, Lorraine (right) and her sister, Valerie, often travelled to a one-room school in Starbuck in a horse-pulled cart or sled.
When school was out for the summer, Woods-Bavasah often took her children and a group of their friends to a beach for the day or to a drive-in movie in the evening.
Her children fondly recalled her taking them to sports games and practices or art galleries and theatre productions.
Woods-Bavasah created a welcoming and safe environment for her children and their friends at the family’s home in St. Vital, said Reaburn and Woods.
Woods recalled his mother letting his band jam — loudly — in the basement. She often brought them homemade pizza.
At St. John’s High School, she taught clothing and textiles and child development programs to teenagers. She was recognized by the Winnipeg School Division for helping to develop curriculum and getting more boys involved in home economics.
Woods said his mother was one of the first teachers in Manitoba to institute a basic sewing program for boys.
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Single mother Woods-Bavasah, with her children Jody and Jeff on her graduation day, obtained a degree in home economics from the University of Manitoba, and later an education diploma.
At that time, boys went to woodworking or auto mechanics classes, while girls learned how to cook or sew, he said.
“I think she called it ‘bachelor survival.’ She was a bit of a pioneer and an innovator,” he said. “In the ‘50s and ‘60s, it was the thought that the boys did ‘boy things’ and the girls did ‘girl things.’”
Woods-Bavasah saw home economics as an extremely relevant subject that provided students with tools necessary for life.
The one-time president of the Manitoba Home Economics Teachers Association was also recognized for creating costumes, with help from her students, for teens who acted in drama productions at St. John’s.
As her children grew older, her proudest memories were seeing them graduate and then watching her six grandchildren grow up.
Reaburn and Woods said they were inspired by their mother’s integrity and her acceptance of others.
“She was very welcoming of everybody,” said Reaburn. “I think in her situation, she knew what it was like to be the odd person.”
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Woods-Bavasah spent much of her career as a home economics teacher at St. John’s High School in Winnipeg.
Woods-Bavasah’s love of the arts stayed with her until the end. She was a regular visitor to the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre well into her retirement.
She also found love within a community of retired teachers. Woods-Bavasah and Esmail Bavasah, who also taught at St. John’s, married in 1994.
An obituary for Bavasah, who died at 92 in 2010, described him as an active member of the anti-apartheid movement in his native South Africa. He formed a non-white sports league and became president of a school sports union before arriving in Manitoba in 1965.
The marriage brought another chapter in life for Woods-Bavasah. The couple spent their retirement travelling the world, wintering in Bavasah’s hometown of Cape Town. At home in Winnipeg, they entertained family and friends, took in stage shows and volunteered for the provincial NDP.
In her later years, Woods-Bavasah looked forward to family dinners, birthday barbecues and Mother’s Day gatherings. She enjoyed a good book, specifically poetry.
At her funeral in Winnipeg in February, Woods-Bavasah was remembered for her strength, resilience and caring nature.
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Lorraine Woods-Bavasah, who raised two children on her own while working and pursuing higher education, was remembered for her strength, resilience and caring nature.
In her eulogy, Reaburn described “the remarkable journey (Woods-Bavasah) undertook at a time when the landscape of expectations for women was vastly different than it is today.”
“Balancing the responsibilities of raising two children on her own while pursuing a university degree and a career is a testament to her personal strength, her unwavering strength, to break barriers,” Reaburn told mourners.
chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca
Chris Kitching
Reporter
Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.
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