LORRAINE BRIGGS
If you ever needed a prescription filled at the Barry’s Bay pharmacy, you likely met Lorraine Briggs.
She was the daughter of Henry J. Chapeskie and Rose C. Chapeskie and pursued a degree in pharmacy at the University of Toronto. In 1954, she opened Lorraine’s Pharmacy, the first in Barry’s Bay. Her husband Ron was also a pharmacist, who worked alongside Lorraine until his death in 1975.
Lorraine went on to raise her six children alone, while running her pharmacy. As the children got older, she joined the Canadian Cancer Society and served as president of the local branch. It was a way of honouring her late husband.
Her son John said his mother had a firsthand perspective on local healthcare on the community and was so very supportive of it.
“Mom recognized that local healthcare is one of the foundations of our community,” he said. “She worked within it for 40 years and like all of us she sought the services provided by it when needed. She fully understood that supporting the health and wellbeing of her fellow citizens would be better achieved in dedicated healthcare facilities staffed with creative and empowered people.”
She actively supported the healthcare teams operating withing the community, at the hospital and at the Valley Manor. When she passed at the age of 92 in 2022, her children wanted to honour her by dedicated In Memoriam donations to the St. Francis Valley Healthcare Foundation.
“Choosing Memoriam donations to the St. Francis Valley Healthcare Foundation upon her passing was something that we as a family knew she would support wholeheartedly,” John said.
The family also chose to purchase a stone on the Memorial Mural to honour their late mother.
“Her dedication to supporting the work of our healthcare teams in the community, at the hospital, and at the Valley Manor, as the town’s first pharmacist, should not be forgotten,” John said. “It was important for our family to publicly recognize her for all of her efforts by purchasing a stone on the Memorial Mural. It also serves as a reminder to all of us who follow that we need to continue with her work.”
