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One of many philosophies often expressed by M18: McKercher is “Better to give flowers to the livtng. . . It is a great privilege for me to pay tribute to hel‘ 110W upon the occasion of her retirement. Any time I've seen her she has always been busy doing something for someone else. I think of her at the National Convention. lfshe wasn’t chaufi'euring ladies in a car which she had rented. she was visiting the sick who had been hospitalized. or she was entertaining guest speakers in her room. What a boon she was to me as she must also have been to each Provincial President of F.W.l.0. before me! Taking care of the travel arrangements. reserving accommodations and doing the driving certainly made it easy for me when it came Area Convention time. I recall with fond memories what a great instruc- tress she was. the interesting conversations we had. and sometimes the lengthy discussions we engaged in when we wondered if a certain situation had been handled satisfactorily. This was indeed a great help to me and I am most grateful to her for sharing the bene- fit of her years of experience with me. How we shall miss her at the Board Meetings where she used the gift of her ever-alert mind to toss ideas and probing questions into the arena of dis- cussion as we dealt with the issues at hand trying to arâ€" rive ai decisions! She had that certain talent of being able to assess every situation upon a moment‘s notice and gutdc everyone's thinking along the proper lines. With her mind constantly active she always seemed to be several steps in advance of anyone else‘s thoughts. Every Board Director who sat with her at Provincial level has respected her good judgment and the app|i~ cation of sound common-sense practices. There isn’t an Institute Member anywhere who can possibly know and appreciate to its fullest degree the tremendous amount of work Miss McKercher has done on behalf of the Women‘s Institutes in her role and during her term of office as the Director of the Home Economics Branch. Her great sense of values and sound reasoning always brought the necessary rc- sponse from her colleagues and superiors whenever She asked for something on our behalf or advanced new proposals. Miss McKercher is an honest. down to earth per- son who calls a spade a spade and expects others to do the same. Naturally she is quite capable of criticism. Aren‘t we all very good at doing this? I never found her doing this withoutjust cause or without it being of benefit to the ones concerned. She certainly never carâ€" ried any grudges. Once a thing was said or done. that was the end of it. lfthe recipient of the remark or deed took offence. the onus was on her. not on Miss McKercher. It was her constant and keen personal interest in people that has endeared her to the hearts ofall those with whom she came into contact. There is no stronger force or closer tie than the loving concern one human being has for another. In all respects Miss McKercher is a great person with a very human touch. I with so many others deem it a rare privilege indeed to have been given the op- portunity to be so closely associated with her. Miss McKercher's friendliness. candid advice sense of humor. make her a delight to know and i with. Although my assodation with her has been btlcf ] realize. that from her wide experience with the Women‘s Institute members in Ontario there has iii. ways been a deep feeling and sense of responding“ toward the training of people and developing ol laud”. ers. Her constant Concern for the appreciation in :th ideals and standards for successful home and t .rH‘h life. has contributed greatly to achieving mean. gm; programmes for women in homemaking and My ership. In her unique way she has inspired women enthusiastic about their organization. to Sifl‘ quality in all they undertook. and to accompli in- goals provided for in the motto, “For Honii id Country". “Who is the lady in the gorgeous hat?" This was my first glimpse of Miss McKerti i London Area Convention. Hats have lost some ol r vogue but Miss McKercher has never faded. l away from that first convention with new insigh: Women's Institute and I was really excited and ious to get back to my Branch and pass on some I‘ enthusiasm. Many conventions have come and gone sincc and Miss McKercher was always there bringing | of what was new in short courses and training suit All those programmes filling the motto “For H and Country“. It was with Miss McKercher‘s gtlli hand that many of these courses were formulated given to W.l. members and their friends in comm ties all over this province. 1 really did not meet Miss McKercher PCTSUU until a year ago. It was with some anticipation anxiety that it happened to me. “What would I say her? What would she think of me?" My fears weri dispelled with the first warm smile. Since that tiii have been in attendance at meetings with iMcKercher, and. although someone else was in cha of that meeting Miss McKercher's guiding hand '~ ever present. It was through her eHorts that the Officers‘ Cont encc had many of its educational and entertain portions of the programme. She always came up u ideas and speakers that would be enjoyed by those tending. Although a small gift was presented to her at i past Conference. no gift of any value could be given repay her for the many things she has done to help 1. Officers‘ Conference and to keep it on the high level the learning experience that it is meant to be. Good luck and long life is my wish to a very war and friendly lady. and 'ork he or