C4-Wednesday, May 14, 1980 - North Shore News

women

oman air traffic controller

retires after full 37 years

By MIKE HUGHES

TORONTO (UPC) - The
safe handling of millions of
flights, a solo battle against a
hurricane to bring home
trouble aircraft and
thousands of friends are the

memories that Marg
Dunseith carries’ into
retirement.

Miss Dunseith, who will
be 65 in June, ends a 37-year
career this weekend as one
of Canada’s first female air
traffic controllers.

Long before the advent of
women’s liberation, Miss
Dunseith had already earned
respect and willing = ac-
ceptance in one of the most
stressful, traditionally male
jobs.

“If I had to do it over
again, I would not hesitate
for one moment,” Miss
Dunseith said, thinking back
to the day when she first
entered a control tower in
1943 as an “assistant”.

One of three sisters raised
on a farm in Stratford, Ont.,
Miss Dunseith had entered
Ontario Agricultural
College, now the University

Brown
Owl
honored

A West Vancouver
brownie leader, who has
been involved in the
movement for the past six
years, was honoured
Monday by a number of
mothers whose daughters
have been Brownies.-

Barbara Hunt was
presented with a collage of
photographs of Brownies
who had been in her care, at
a surprise luncheon at St.
David's church.

More than 60 people
attended the very carefully
planned lunch which was
descnbed as being “a total
surpnse”™ to Mrs. Hunt

satility of

Taste the many

of Guelph, to become a
dietician. In her spare time,
she broadcast a women's
program in CJCS radio in
Stratford.

“That was back in '43,”
she said. “One day, I notcied
a newspaper ad for female
air traffic control assistants
for the duration of the war. I
thought to myself, ‘why not?’
and applied for the job.”

Of 600 apphcants, she was
one of 40 accepted for
training. After completing
her course, she was posted
to Uplands, now Ottawa
International.

Over the years she worked
at Lethbridge, Alta.,
London, Ont., and Malton

(Toronto International).
When she got her full
license, she moved to

Toronto Island, where she
spent the last 27 years and
helped train many of today's

Ontario Region controllers.

Miss Dunseith had briefly
considered cutting short her
career after seven years
because she felt she would
never be permitted to fully
enter “a man’s world... to be
given the chance of getting a

controller's license”.

The Department of
Transport decided in 1952,
however, to give women
who had served as assistants
through the war a chance to
qualify as full-time con-
trollers. Miss Dunseith was
one of six who took a
chance.

When she appeared for
the written examination, the
examiner was unaware
women were acceptable and
wouldn't give it to her. He
reluctantly let her start
writing the three papers
while he checked with
Ottawa and was surprised
when she scored 82 percent.

MlIss Dunseith said she
really “earned her wings”
when Hurrigane Hazel
struck in 1954 and she was
the only controller on duty
in the Island tower.

Somehow, she said, she
handled a fleet of DC-3's

diverted from Malton,
relayed messages from
Malton: summoned water

taxis; ferried people to the
mainland and even found
hotel rooms for those
persons who could not cope.

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“The guys never hassled
me from day one,” she adds,
however. “I could do my job
and they judged me on that
alone, not my sex.”

But, Miss Dunseith
concedes, a control tower is
not the place for anyone who
is nervous, high-strung, or
suffering from heart trouble
or high blood pressure.

Because Toronto Island is
a non-instrument landing
field, traffic flow is either
very heavy or very light. But,
she remembers the time
back in the mid-1960's when
two flying clubs were based
there. “We handled 1,400
movements in a single day.
Yes, that was a tough day.”

Over her long career, Miss
Dunseith can recall only two
fatal accidents.

“One was this y -ar when a
pilot ended up ir the lake,
and the other was some time
back in the 1960's,” she said.
“I don't like to think about it,
I like to think about the good
experiences, the more
positive aspects of the job.”

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