Churchill Foundation Vancouver Island's Shirley Burstall Scholarship in History
Shirley Burstall (1937-2012)
Shirley was born in Rapid City, a small farming community north of Brandon, Manitoba. After graduating from high school, she moved to Winnipeg and obtained her RN at the Winnipeg General Hospital. After marrying her husband Vic in 1959, the couple moved to Calgary where they spent the majority of their working years. Shirley obtained her BA from the University of Calgary and became the Counseling Coordinator of the Calgary Birth Control Association and Executive Director of Aids Calgary in its early stages. The couple retired in 1992 and moved to their summer home on Shuswap Lake where they lived for ten years before moving to Victoria. Shirley was an avid sailor often referred to by her many friends as “Admiral" Shirley. She enjoyed hiking, as well as tennis and golf playing each twice a week throughout the year. She was well traveled. She was a supporter of local charities including Seven Oakes, which is a mental health facility.
The Churchill Foundation Vancouver Island (CFVI) established this award in memory of Shirley. As a registered charity since 2006, the CFVI limits itself solely to charitable works that will reflect the objectives of the Sir Winston Churchill Society of Vancouver Island. Those objectives are: to stimulate an appreciation of history and, national and international affairs through the provision of educational scholarships, bursaries, prizes and awards, and, to sponsor speeches, lectures, panel discussions and debates, in such a manner as to perpetuate the memory of the Right Honorable Sir Winston Spencer Churchill.