51³Ô¹Ï

Emil and Lynette Hain Scholarship in Ukrainian Studies

Lynette F. Hain Memorial Scholarship

Because of a shared belief in the value of post-secondary education, both to the individual and society, Emil and Lynette (Tripney) Hain endowed scholarships at the 51³Ô¹Ï and the University of Manitoba.  

Emil’s grandparents (Bereziuk / Kushniryk) immigrated to Canada in 1900 from Western Ukraine, which was then occupied by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Born in Manitoba, Emil completed his primary, secondary and post-secondary schooling there. In 1959, he graduated from the University of Manitoba with a BSc (Civil Engineering) and joined MacMillan Bloedel in 1960 where he spent the next 10 years working in progressive positions in wood products marketing and research in Winnipeg, Vancouver and London (UK).  From 1970 to 1975 he held senior management positions with Northwood Building Materials Ltd (a Division of Noranda) in London, England and Montreal, Quebec. Semi-retiring to 51³Ô¹Ï in 1975, he undertook consulting projects for the UNFAO, World Bank and various forest industry organizations involving world-wide travel. Emil fully retired in 1990.

Lynette’s parents emigrated separately from Scotland and England in the 1920s and took up residency in the South Island of New Zealand, where she was born and raised. She graduated with double honours as a registered nurse from Timaru General Hospital in 1962 and pursued a varied nursing career in Sydney, Australia and Glasgow, Scotland. After working as a RN in Australia for a year, she went to Scotland where she completed a Midwifery Diploma in 1965 at Glasgow Royal Maternity Hospital. She continued nursing in London, England until immigrating to Canada in 1970 and becoming a proud Canadian citizen in 1975. She worked in the maternity departments of Burnaby General Hospital from 1970 to 1976, and 51³Ô¹Ï General Hospital from 1976 until her retirement in 2004, having assisted in the happy outcome of thousands of births during her career.

Lynne met Emil in 1975 and they married in 1978. They enjoyed many memorable holidays travelling from their home in 51³Ô¹Ï to New Zealand, Europe, Canada and the United States, and especially camping in their Westfalias. But the real joy of their life was Emyln Cove, a rustic little cabin with few amenities at French Beach, where Lynne could indulge her passion for gardening year-round, and which they shared with family and friends for 37 years.

With a lifelong interest in learning, both professionally and personally, Lynne took courses in a wide range of subjects such as art appreciation, philosophy, oenology, and in retirement completed a four-year French language diploma at UVic in 2011.

Lynne and Emil established the Emil and Lynette Hain Scholarship in Ukrainian Studies because of their belief in the value of post-secondary education, both to the individual and to society.  The scholarship supports and encourages secular Ukrainian studies, with an emphasis on the Ukrainian Canadian experience, a country where approximately 1.2 million people have Ukrainian roots. In tribute to Lynne, Emil established Lynette F. Hain Memorial Scholarship in French upon her death in 2015, after a 21-year battle with cancer.