Catherine “Kip” (Ongley) Veale

Kip’s Yukon story began in the summer of 1971 when she and her husband were the caretakers at Forty Mile at the confluence of the Yukon and Forty Mile Rivers down river from Dawson City. Forty Mile is now a Trondek Gwichin Historical Site and it was also a gold mining town that pre-dated the historic Klondyke Goldrush and establishment of Dawson City in 1898.

Her experience at Forty Mile began a lifelong interest in First Nation history and the devastating impact of developments over which they had no control.

 Kip was born in Brandon, Manitoba, on October 3, 1943, as Catherine Louise Ongley. Her father, Fred Ongley, was an Anglican priest and was transferred to Peterborough, Ontario, where Kip went to school with a group of friends that she remains in contact with today.

She went to Trinity College and graduated with an Honours degree in English and a Masters in Social Work in 1971. She worked as a Child Protection social worker with the Children’s Aid Society in Toronto and left that job to spend the summer of 1971 in Forty Mile.

Her career was again interrupted when she moved to the Yukon in 1973 with her husband Ron and worked at home raising her two boys, David and Jonathan, in their early years. She returned to work as a social worker in 1975 starting in the Home Care program and Child Welfare.

From 1983 to 2002 she was the social worker for Seniors and Elders, which was her true love and passion. She loved her relationship with her many clients and

working to protect them in the community and ensuring a strong relationship with their families and often reconnecting them.

Kip was also a very active volunteer. In the early days, she became involved in organizations that complimented her work and family. She was the founding president of the Yukon Child Care Association. She was the founding chair of Hospice Yukon and was the master of ceremonies for the annual Lights of Life Ceremony to remember and honour loved ones. She was the founding chair of Planned Parenthood.

She was also an active member of other community organizations including the Yukon Arts Centre, Yukon Family Services Association, Line of Life Yukon, the Association of Social Workers of Northern Canada and the Yukon Council on Aging.

Perhaps her true calling was teaching. She was an Adjunct Faculty member at Yukon College in the Social Work program including the degree granted by University of Regina. She was a Faculty Advisor and instructed in Introduction to Social Work and the course on Aging.

 She pursued her professional and academic interest in aging at Simon Fraser in 1997 and 1998 and was on the SFU Honour Roll. She applied her knowledge in gerontology in workshops and presented a CBC bi-weekly Column on Aging in 1998.

Kip received the Premier’s Award of Excellence in 2005 for her work on the legislative team that produced the Guardianship Act, the Adult Protection and Decision Act and the Care Consent Act. That team produced the legislation in a one-year period and was the most progressive legislation of its kind.

Kip also cared for and nurtured her immediate and extended family. She has a passion for the Yukon that grew with her relationships with seniors and elders and never faded. Today she is enjoying a well-earned retirement with her husband, sons and grandchildren.