Remembering Gretta Grant, Canada's first Chinese-Canadian woman lawyer
Grant died on Feb. 24 at the age of 102
Gretta Jean Grant (nee Wong) is being remembered as someone who had a very positive outlook on life, was curious about the people she met, and pushed back against discrimination.
Born in London, Ont., in 1921 to Chinese immigrant parents Lem and Toye Chin Wong, Grant was the seventh of eight siblings. She attended Western University and then studied law at Osgoode Hall, in Toronto. In 1946, she became the first Chinese-Canadian woman to be called to the bar.
When she was younger, everyone suggested she should become a lawyer because she was argumentative, said George Grant, Gretta's eldest son.
"She didn't like when there was discrimination. I must stress that she did not feel discrimination when she was growing up — she really felt London was quite welcoming. But later on, she certainly saw other people who suffered from discrimination."
George said his mom tried in her own way to make sure she was a good advocate for those who faced discrimination.
"I believe my mother had a nice, quiet, but at the same time forceful way of getting her point across."
Carmel Tse, the chair of the Chinese Canadian Nation Council London chapter, fondly remembers meeting Gretta when he moved to London in the 1980s.
"She was very proud of her heritage, saying that she is a direct descendant of a man who was affected by the head tax, and her mother got into Canada under very, very special circumstances under the Chinese Exclusion Act," said Tse.
The first Chinese family in London
Gretta's father, Lem Wong, came to Canada in 1896 at the age of 15 and worked at a laundry company. He would continue to work at laundries across the country before starting his own business in London on Dundas Street in 1903. Later, he would open a restaurant and then returned to China to find a wife.
Wong married Toye Chin and the couple had their first son, Victor, in China in 1907. It would be another four years before the family was reunited in London.
"Only owners of a business could bring their spouse from China to join them. That was under the Chinese Exclusion Act," said Tse. "So in a way, the Wongs were the first [Chinese] family with husband and wife settled in London."
Lem and Toye had seven more children in London, with Gretta being the second youngest. She would would eventually play a role in eliminating the head tax that her parents were subject to.
"She was very kind but also very stern when it comes to positions on certain issues, such as the fight against the head tax, repealing of the head tax," said Tse.
"She contributed to that and in the end the federal government did issue an apology to the Chinese Canadian community."
WATCH: Gretta Grant's son reflects on her life and legacy
Raising four children after her husband died
Gretta met her husband, Alan Grant, while at law school and they married in 1950. Alan was ill at the time, so Gretta worked as a psychologist, helping women in custody at correctional facilities in Toronto.
After Alan recovered from his illness, they moved to London, where they started practicing law and had four children. Alan died in 1967, leaving her to raise their children, who were ages 10 to 16 at the time.
Gretta served as assistant city solicitor for the City of London, and was part of the group that pioneered Ontario's Legal Aid program. She was the first area director of Legal Aid for London, and would also work as the director for Woodstock and Stratford.
George followed in his parents footsteps and became a lawyer. His older sister, Gretchen Salmon, is a London doctor, and his younger brothers, Jim and Hugh, both earned PhDs.
"We made sure we didn't disappoint her," said George. "We respected [her and my grandfather] by honouring their desire that we would be good citizens and contribute properly to society, and that's what we tried to do."
In 1969, Gretta was appointed Queen's Counsel. She then became the first woman president of the Middlesex Bar Association.
After she retired in 1988, Gretta served as chair of the city's race relations committee, a board member on the Chinese Canadian National Council in London, and chair of the Board of Governors of Fanshawe College. In 2000, she received the Law Society Medal for outstanding service within the profession.
Gretta retired to an apartment near Cherryhill Village Mall, where she would meet with friends at the Cherryhill Coffee Club.
The family will be gathering for a celebration of Gretta's life in July.
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With files from Andrew Brown