Joan Parkins (October 4, 1922 – June 1, 2013) was a Canadian

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

. She chose not to go professional and instead married

Gordon F. Henderson Gordon Fripp Henderson, (April 17, 1912 – August 17, 1993) was a Canadian intellectual property lawyer who joined the law firm Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP in 1937, and later became its chairman. He was known for his advocacy on intellectual ...

Biography

Parkins was born on October 4, 1922, and she went into figure skating at an early age. She had a high school education but did not further her education because figure skating would be her career.Henderson, Gordon (17 June 1986). "Mr. Gordon Henderson" (Interview). Interviewed by Christine J.N. Kates. Ottawa: Osgoode Society. She began skating at the

Minto Skating Club The Minto Skating Club is a competitive figure skating club in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, founded in 1904. The Club is a member of the Skate Canada figure skating organization in Canada, and was a founder of the predecessor organization to Skate Can ...

and won prizes at events such as the

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Speed Skating Association championships and three first places at the Minto Club Junior Championships, where she placed above future world champion

Barbara Ann Scott Barbara Ann Scott (May 9, 1928 – September 30, 2012) was a Canadian figure skater. She was the 1948 Olympic champion, a two-time World champion (1947–1948), and a four-time Canadian national champion (1944–46, 48) in ladies' singles. Kn ...

twice. While at the Minto club, she was coached by Otto Gold and skated with Barbara Scott. Parkins had a request to turn professional, and while she was considering it, she began working on the switchboard at

Gowlings Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP (Gowlings) was a Canadian and international law firm, with about 700 legal professionals in 10 offices in Canada and as well as London, Moscow, and Beijing. The firm offered legal support in business law, advocacy/lit ...

in 1941. Her father died during that time, and in 1942, she married a young lawyer from the firm: Gordon Henderson. Ian Scott referred to him as "the best all-around lawyer the profession has produced since the War." She subsequently did not go professional in figure skating and did not take a job. She was on the board of various organizations, including

Skate Canada Skate Canada ( Canadian French: ''Patinage Canada'', lit. "Skating Canada") is the national governing body for figure skating in Canada, recognized by the International Skating Union and the Canadian Olympic Committee. It organizes the annual ...

Selkirk Communications Selkirk Communications was a Canadian radio and television broadcasting company, which operated from 1959 to 1989. Evolving out of Taylor, Pearson & Carson, a local broadcaster in Vancouver founded in 1934, the company grew to own 14 radio statio ...

, the

Ottawa Civic Hospital The Ottawa Civic Hospital is one of three main campuses of The Ottawa Hospital – along with the General and Riverside campuses. With 549 beds (including the Heart Institute), the Civic Campus has the region's only adult-care trauma centre, servin ...

, and the

Stratford Festival The Stratford Festival is a theatre festival which runs from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was formerly known as the Stratford Shakespearean Festival ...

. She and her husband set up the Gordon and Joan Henderson Endowment Fund at the Ottawa Hospital and The Gordon and Joan Henderson Family Fund at the Community Foundation of Ottawa. She died on June 1, 2013, at the age of 90.

Family

Parkins was the eldest of John and Jennie Parkins's four children. In 1942 she married Gordon Henderson and was married for 55 years until he died in 1993. They had three children: Joanne,

Gordon Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

, and Robert, and nine grandchildren, including

Stuart Henderson Stuart Robert Henderson is a Canadian historian, culture critic, filmmaker, and musician. He is a writer and producer with 90th Parallel Productions, a documentary film company. He is the author of the Clio award-winning book ''Making the Scene, Y ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parkins, Joan 1922 births 2013 deaths Canadian female figure skaters 20th-century Canadian sportswomen