Grete Hale (1929-2022): “Baker’s daughter” was a legendary Ottawa business leader and philanthropist

tomtidgewellNovember 8, 2022

Grete Hale, who died on October 28 at the age of 93, was the second of Ottawa’s legendary “Three Sisters.”

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November 8, 2022 • 10 minutes ago • 4 minute read • join the conversation

Grete Hale passed away on October 28, 2022 at the age of 93. Photo by Jeff Bassett /post media

“I love the sound of my phone,” wrote Grete Hale in her 2011 memoir, Daughters of Baker: A Story of a Long, Rich, and Very Canadian Life. “You never know what voices, with what demands, challenges or news, will come to the other side.”

It can also be the voice of the Prime Minister (most likely Conservative) or the Prime Minister’s wife. Or maybe the governor. Or mayor. And the challenge was usually Hale’s request to do something to make his city, country, and world better.

Hale, who died on October 28 at the age of 93, was the second of Ottawa’s legendary “Three Sisters”, the title baker in her memoir, and Cecil, co-founder of Morrison Ramos Bakery. Morrison’s daughter. Her eldest, Gene Piggott, was a businessman, member of parliament, and chairman of the State Capital Committee, who died in 2012.

Hale became a pioneering businesswoman as president and board chair of Morrison Ramote and a tireless philanthropist and cheerleader for her city.

“She came from a great family and was a wonderful person,” said Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson. “She was a very curious person. She wanted to know how things were going and what I thought would happen in the election.

Visiting Bain House, a Fuller Street home said to be Ottawa’s oldest home, was like stepping into history, Watson said.

“It was like a living museum in Ottawa. It had the knife the Queen used to cut the cake (the giant centenary cake Morrison Ramos baked at the Houses of Parliament in 1967). John A. Macdonald There was a chair that Sir used when he was Prime Minister.They were very proud of their country and their city.”

Magritte Anne Hale was born in Ottawa on May 11, 1929. Her first name was too big for her sister to manage, so from an early age she became known as Grete for the rest of her life. She graduated from Carleton University with a journalism degree in 1954 and married Reg Hale, 18 years her senior, in 1957.

She joined Morrison Ramote in 1966, became president in 1979, and chairman of the board in 1989. She’s a 20-foot centennial. She oversaw the making of her cake, slathered on 700 pounds of icing, and came to Parliament Hill. She fed 40,000 Canadians. for a national birthday bash.

Morrison Ramote eventually moved production to Toronto, but remains headquartered in Ottawa. Today, it’s probably best known for its frozen baked goods, such as supplying McDonald’s with apple pies.

But most people don’t remember Grete Hale for baking bread. For her business acumen and involvement in philanthropic organizations, and her involvement as a member of numerous boards, she was awarded the Order of Canada in 2006. The first woman to do so. She received honorary doctorates from her uOttawa and Carleton and was made an honorary life member of the CANHAVE Children’s Center and the Community Foundation of Ottawa.

“There is only one thing I ask of you, and that is to be a contributor,” she wrote in her memoir, as her father delivered his deathbed message to his daughters.

Of her contributions, none were closer to her heart than the Ottawa Community Foundation.

Bibi Patel, the foundation’s former vice president who retired last year, has known Hale for over 20 years. She called Hale the Foundation’s “Polar Star”.

“She had a knack for being able to line up where we are now and when we started it. I loved that about her,” Patel said. “When she spoke, no matter how long the talk was, at the board meeting we all stopped just to listen to her. They were always so helpful and informative.”

“For me, she was a voice from the past that could put things in context. And she was always so happy about the new and different things we were doing.”

Hale was very curious and always wanted to know more about someone’s experience.

“For all the richness of her own life, she was preoccupied with other people’s lives,” Patel said.

And what a rich life it was! Among the people she met and entertained were former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan and Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, who was the first to walk in space. Yusuf and Estrellita Kirsch were guests at Bain House and at the request of former Prime Minister Joe Clarke’s wife Maureen McTeer, Hale hosted a dinner party for the spouses of world leaders, RCMP Surprised security details.

“When she was awarded the Order of Canada, she represented all that is good about this city and country,” said Watson.

The Grete Hale condolence book will be available November 21-25 at the Beachwood National Memorial Center. Tuesday, November 22 from 2-4pm and 6-8pm and Thursday, November 24 from 2-4pm and 6-8pm

A memorial service will be held at the cemetery at 1:00 pm on Saturday, November 26th.

Donations in memory of Grete Hale can be made to the Margaret and Cecil Morrison Memorial Fund of the Ottawa Community Foundation or the Beachwood Cemetery Foundation.