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Sunshine Women‘s Institute Tweedsmuir History Book 3 Mary and Allan Simpson honoured According to a profile prepared by Andre Pommainville, Dr. Allan A. Simpson was born in 1943. He helped his parents, Angus and Charlene Simpson, and his Uncle Ewen Allen who farmed the Allen family farm together in Stardale. It was primarily a dairy farm with a few horses for power, pigs, hens, turkeys and a large garden for side-lines â€" 'similar to many Ontario family farms post-World War 11. Allan‘s Uncle Ewen was always active in dairy and cheese producers" organizations and the family participated in community and church activities. After graduating from Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute and having been president of the local 4vH calf club and church youth groups, Allan pursued his studies in agricultural and animal science at the University of Guelph. Upon receiving his BSC in agriculture from Ontario Agriculture College in 1965, Simpson enrolled in a post-graduate program at OAC, receiving his Master’s in Animal Science a year later for work on the Breed Class Average (BCA) method of comparing the breeding value of dairy cattle. Fascinated by the world of scientific research, he moved on to Cornell University, obtaining a Doctorate in lactation physiology in 1969. At Cornell he. was awarded the American Dairy Science Association Award of Excellence, presented for graduate student research. (Simpson’s research dealt with the triggering stimulus needed for the formation of milk.) ‘ in other words, what happens to cause mammary gland tissue to start to produce milk? This work had led to special training of Allan by the American National Institute of Health so that he learned how to measure minute amounts of hormones circulating in blood. That expertise was recognized by the administrationofDalhousie University, o--.;_ i}cal; Faculty, in Hehf ,‘Nova’ in 1969, Dr. Simpson was hired as an associate professor of physiology with the faculty of medicine. and for more than six years, held a variety of positions with the institution. As examples, he lectured on gastrointestinal function, on various topics in obstetrics and gynaecology, was assistant director of the Endocrine infertility Clinic, did research in human reproduction and‘highâ€"risk obstetrics, chaired numerous committees at Dalhousie U., and served as chief examiner for medical students at Dalhousie Medical School during the first two years of their study program. Mary Helen Simpson also a Guelph, Cornell graduate In 1967. the same year as she married Allan. Mary Helen (West) graduated from the University of Guelph with an honours Bachelor‘s degree in applied science. Her. father, James Roy West, was a graduate of the Ontario Veterinary College who practised in Ottawa until his untimely death in 1947. Her mother, Helen G. (Bates), was also a graduate of MacDonald lnstitute at Guelph and in later years served on the Senate at the University oquelph, Following their marriage Mary Helen continued her studies at Cornell where in 1969, she obtained her Master‘s degree in nutrition. Her thesis for her Master’s involved the importance of Vitamin Bé (pyridoxine) in amino acid metabolism of women taking oral contraceptives. Following their move to Halifax in 1969‘. Mary V Helen continued research with her husband. They worked as a team at the University. in the community and in administrating a large Sunday School at a United ,Chursh-._ Time for a change Afier a decade of intensive university studies, teaching and research work, in 1975 the Simpsons did some soul-searching about the focus oftheir lives. In a conscious decision to take more time for family including their children â€" as well as Allan’s mother and Uncle Ewen who remained on the family farm - they moved to the Allen family farm at Stardale and returned to the Vankleek Hill area. At that time the home farm had a dairy herd of approximately 30 Holsteins, some horses, hens and garden, and a land base of 100 acres. Over the years. under Allan and Mary Helen’s partnership the farm gramly e7p§nded to 800 acres and herd of 150 Holsteins. Allan and Mary Helen worked for three years with local milk producers and the Ontario Milk Marketing Board (OMMB) to put in place a program which allows dairy farmers to contribute milk to food banks in the province. This program now continues and over the last eight years, has resulted in over five million litres being contributed. The couple expressed appreciation to all who contributed and helped with the establishment of the program. which continues . to be a source of pride for Dairy Farmers of Ontario. Allan and Mary Helen are proud to have been part of the dairy industry. They were among the first in Prescott County to be able and willing to test milk for antibiotic residues, and have tested many samples over the years for concerned producers in the/ area. > Recently, their milk quota and dairy cows were sold, making room for a ZOO-head replacement Holstein operation. Community service Both Allan and Mary Helen are firm believers in "free enterprise and small goyemment". Both were 05 searcliaIJIe pdfa with the Agricultural Award of Merit active in the Hawkesbury and Area Waste Management Study, and for over two years Allan chaired the Citizens‘ Committee for that study. Mary Helen Simpson has also promoted agriculture and rural life through her involvement in 4-H, Women’s Institute, and as Dairy Princess Co- ordinator. Their home was ,open to numerous Katimavik. Junior "Aggie" and foreign students. ‘ As well, Mary Helen smgs with the Amaryllis women‘s choir and is a regular in the Cassbum United Church choir. At various times Allan has chaired, or sewed on the board of directors of the Co-op, the Prescott County Milk Committee, and on the former Prescott-Russell County board of Education where he sewed as a mime and vicwhain'nan. Also active in the United Church, he was S u n d a y S c h o o l superintendent at Trinity United, V'ankleek Hill; later at Cassburn he has served as an elder, and on a few Sundays each year, visits various Eastern Ontario churches as a lay preacher. The Simpsons have three grown children. Eldest daughter Christy now lives in Edmonton ,, "fair few i where she is doing a post- doctorate fellowship in bio- ethics. A son, John, is a medical doctor in general ‘ practice at Uxbridge, Ontario, while youngest daughter Sally is in her second year at McMaster University in a combined arts and ’scieflcs program.