Mary Jane Brenner

1942 - 2018  (76 years)

• Name	Mary Jane Brenner
  Born	16 Jan 1942	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Gender	Female
  Name	Mary Jane MeWhiney
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-168349
  Died	30 Jun 2018
  Person ID	I168349	Generations
  Last Modified	7 Nov 2024

  
  

  Father	Oscar Brenner,   b. CA 1910,   d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F56075	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Alexander MeWhiney
  Last Modified	12 Nov 2024
  Family ID	F48575	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  LIFETIMES: Nurse, real estate agent and politician '97the unstoppable Mary Jane Mewhinney Mary Jane Mewhinney of Waterloo. Born: Jan. 16, 1942 in Kitchener. Died: June 30, 2018 following Alzheimer's diagnosis by Valerie Hill Waterloo Region Record WATERLOO - Those who knew her describe former Waterloo city and regional councillor Mary Jane Mewhinney as reserved but a woman who spoke up when needed. "She was quiet and gentle but clear in her views," said daughter Jill Strickland. "On social issues she was not shy about expressing her views." "I have a commitment to the values and traditions and heritage of our city," Mary Jane wrote in her application for a term on Waterloo city council in 1988. Mary Jane Brenner was born in Kitchener, one of four daughters. For a time, her father Oscar Brenner worked in a tire plant but later opened his own floor sanding business. When Mary Jane's sister Sandra, older by a year, began school Mary Jane was not about to be left behind and squeezed her little self into Sandra's seat. Fortunately her sister was patient and the nuns at the Catholic elementary school were tolerant. Little Mary Jane was allowed to stay but this was not playtime, Mary Jane had to behave. "She had an extra year of school," said Jill. "She was always eager to learn." After graduating from high school, Mary Jane entered the nursing school at St. Mary's Hospital. Around the same time, she met Alex Mewhinney, an engineering student at the University of Waterloo. "On Saturday nights, engineering students (mostly male) would host a dance and invite the nurses from St. Mary's," Alex said. "We both ended up going to a party with someone else, but got chatting and I got her phone number." Alex called the lovely brunette '97 and they were married in December 1962. Alex was planning on a teaching career and got a job in Hanover. Mary Jane was hired at a nursing home in town and later moved to the hospital for a short time before the couple were on the move again, this time with baby Jill in tow. Their next stop was Brockville, where they lived for three years. Mary Jane worked part-time as a psychiatric nurse at Brockville Psychiatric Hospital. Alex eventually decided to upgrade his teaching credentials, enrolled at the University of Waterloo and so the couple returned to Waterloo Region. Mary took a full-time job at St. Mary's Hospital, where she had graduated from the nursing school in 1962. This new job would become a launch pad of sorts for Mary Jane '97 she got her first taste of leadership. Mary Jane helped create the St. Mary's Nurses Association, a bargaining unit that provided some leverage in negotiating with the nuns who ran the hospital. Mary Jane continued to work full-time after Alex started teaching chemistry at Preston High School, where he stayed for 29 years. It wasn't until a certain incident with a funny haircut and a thoroughly miffed little girl did Mary Jane decide that perhaps she should cut back her work hours. As Jill tells it, she had just had a haircut and when the babysitter sent her to kindergarten class some mean boys started teasing the five-year-old. Jill was not about to be subjected to verbal abuse so she took action, left school and was found sitting on a neighbour's porch. This story became family lore, known as "The incident of the hair." Alex and Mary Jane decided this kid needed more supervision and so she cut her hours back to part-time and by then, they had another little one, baby Eric. Once Eric was in nursery school, Mary Jane was planning another career: Politics. Now Mary Jane's career aspirations were starting to shift and she was supported by a friend, someone who felt the same about wanting to change how politics were run in the City of Waterloo. It was 1972 when Lynne Woolstencroft ran as school trustee and Mary Jane ran for Waterloo City Council. Both were successful and Lynn, who died of cancer in 2013, would also go on to serve as city councillor for six years. Mary Jane was only the second woman on Waterloo city council to become a councillor, a seat she held for 19 consecutive years. She had originally been inspired to pursue politics after leading a charge to stop clear-cutting of trees on a historic Waterloo street. "The summer before (the 1972 election), there had a been a big issue on Albert Street," said Alex. "They wanted to take down trees." At that time, Mary Jane had told the Record "when I got involved in urban renewal I felt council wasn't as responsible as it should be so I decided the way to be effective was to be on council and have a voice." Mary Jane might have been one of the quieter ones on council, but she regularly put herself forward in leadership roles, particularly if it involved social issues, children's services, heritage or planning. She sat on hospital boards, volunteered for committees as well as charities and in 1980 Mary Jane became the first chair of the city's inaugural children's services committee, a three-year pilot project designed to look at how tax dollars should be distributed to agencies supporting children. Mary Jane was also frequently called on to attend community events as a city representative. Alex often went with her, until this one time when the two were introduced as "Mary Jane Mewhinney and his wife Alex," which the MC immediately corrected to "Mary Jane Mewhinney and her wife, Alex." Poor Alex. Jill said her dad had always been happy to cook, clean, whatever needed doing while his wife was working but perhaps being called a wife was going too far. In 1981, she won Oktoberfest Women of the Year Politician of the Year. "Women must take some responsibility for redefining their roles," she said. "They must discuss allocating of tasks with their husbands "I would argue that I, or you, are society so it's up to me to get in there and change things." In 1977, Mary Jane decided to test the waters of provincial politics. She ran, and lost, as a provincial NDP candidate for Waterloo North. By 1991, Mary Jane was ready for a new challenge and decided not to run for re-election. Alex thinks she was becoming disillusioned: "She'd had enough," said Alex. "There were issues coming around for the third time. "I think she was ready for something else, ready for a new challenge." Career Number 3 for Mary Jane was real estate and she obtained her licence in 1981, but she didn't stop nursing until 2005. In 2012 she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and she was determined to make the best of her remaining time. Mary Jane and Alex travelled extensively until her illness made it impossible. vhill@therecord.com, Twitter: @HillRecord Hill, V. (2018). LIFETIMES: Nurse, real estate agent and politician '97the unstoppable Mary Jane Mewhinney. TheRecord.com. Retrieved 16 July 2018, from https://www.therecord.com/news-story/8742851-lifetimes-nurse-real-estate-agent-and-politician-the-unstoppable-mary-jane-mewhinney/

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 16 Jan 1942 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth