Edna and Phyllis Mortimore

Edna Mortimore and Phyllis Mortimore devoted their lives to the public good.

Edna Mortimore was a widow with seven children. She welcomed ex-offenders and homeless people into her home, and worked for housing and benefits for seniors, mothers, single women, injured workers, veterans and prisoners. She was named Vancouver’s Good Citizen of 1945 as the “Friend of the Forgotten.

Her daughter Phyllis Mortimore was Canada’s first woman police sergeant. She fought for equal pay for women police officers in Vancouver – and got it – in 1957. Her particular concern was prostitutes and other women on the street. She was also an active contributor to the police credit union, the superannuated police association, the Girl Guides and her church. Phyllis died in 2009.