Giving Profile - Shirleyan English

Fall 2024

Western alumna Shirleyan English, BA’62 (Journalism), has spent a lifetime immersed in words, through both reading and writing. Her mother, a teacher, and later a principal at an elementary school in Elk Lake, and her father, who worked for Ontario Northland Railway and was a voracious reader and a self-taught man, instilled a love of language in Shirleyan from a young age. Both her parents were advocates for education and encouraged their three daughters to pursue learning past high school.

Shirleyan did just that, graduating from Western with a journalism degree in 1962. Through the power of networking, she got a tip that the local newspaper, the London Free Press, was hiring and she was able to land her first job right out of school. She spent 30 years at the paper, writing for the Women’s Section. Doug English, her husband-to-be, also had a long career at the Free Press primarily as the Travel Editor. They both relished their time at the newspaper.

“Doug was involved in the LFP business, and he loved the business as much as I did,” said Shirleyan.

“The London Free Press was a big part of our lives as we worked there for our whole careers.”

Onion Skins and Peach Fuzz book coverShirleyan would continue writing into her retirement years, as she published a book titled, Onion Skins and Peach Fuzz: Memories of Ontario Farmerettes, along with co-author Bonnie Sitter in 2019. The book captured the experiences of the Ontario Farmerettes, Shirleyan among them, who stepped in to help fill a labour shortage in the agricultural sector in the summers between 1941-1952. Over that time about 35,000 girls between the ages of 16 to 18 participated in the program. The book immortalizes the unique stories of dozens of farmerettes who took to the fields those summers to plant, hoe, and weed over long hours. This year the book was also adapted into a play of the same name that was performed at the Blyth Festival in August and September.

Given these experiences, it is no surprise that when Shirleyan, now 88 years old, considered how she might honour her late parents and husband, giving others the gift of education through scholarships and bursaries emerged as a favourable option.

She established two awards at Western. In 2015, she set up the Amy & Elliot Grieve Undergraduate Award in English to honour “two remarkable parents,” and in 2021 she chose to honour her husband Doug by funding a second award for students in the Master of Media in Journalism and Communication program called the Douglas L. English Memorial Bursary. The award in Doug’s name goes to students who are, like he was, interested in pursuing a career in writing or journalism. The award established in her parents’ name reflects their commitment to education and helps students in financial need achieve the same university education that Shirleyan was able to earn as a young person.

“Both of my parents were extremely interested in education and really wanted us girls – there were three daughters - to get educated further than high school,” she said.

“My parents had a love of education, and I wanted an award set up to honour them.”

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FIMS would like to thank Shirleyan English for giving back to Western University. Donors like Shirleyan have an enormous impact on our students.

Why give?

Student scholarships are instrumental to equity in education. They break down financial barriers with the hope of ensuring equal access to post-secondary education for all students. Scholarships help to address systemic inequalities and foster diversity and are lifelines that let recipients focus more on their studies and worry less about their finances. Scholarships become stepping-stones to a brighter future, for both the student and society.

If you would like to learn more about student scholarships and awards reach out to Susannah Gergich, sgergic@uwo.ca or 519-661-2111 x86318.