Track star left legacy beyond sports world

One of the fastest woman on earth in the 1930s

VANCOUVER • Barbara Howard was barely five feet tall. But in the 1930s she was one of the fastest women on earth.

At the western Canadian trials for the 1938 British Empire Games, Howard ran the 100-yard dash in 11.2 seconds — one-tenth of a second faster than the existing Empire Games record.

“That’s fast, even today,” says Jason Beck of the BC Sports Hall of Fame. “Male or female, that’s fast.”

Howard was only 17 at the time and still in Grade 12 at Britannia high school. But she soon found herself on a ship bound for Sydney, Australia, where the Empire Games were staged in February 1938.

She would win silver and bronze medals as part of the Canadian relay team, but finished sixth in the 100-yard dash. And she felt the weight of a city on her shoulders.

“When I didn’t win a medal for Vancouver, I was so ashamed,” she told Postmedia’s Mike Beamish in 2012.

She became a teacher and left athletic competition behind. But a funny thing happened seven decades later — she was rediscovered.

Howard was the first black woman to represent Canada in an international athletic competition. And as she lived into her 90s, the accolades piled up.

She was named to the Burnaby Sports Hall of Fame in 2011. She became a member of the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 2012. And in 2015 she was named to Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, at the age of 96.

Howard died on Jan. 26, three months shy of her 97th birthday.

Her athletic accomplishments brought her fame, but her niece Charline Robson said it was her way with people that is Howard’s real legacy.

Decades later, some of her students still took her out to lunch.

“These kids are now in their 50s and they’ve been taking Barbara out for lunch for the last 10 years,” said Robson.

“She was a very inspiring person, always has been. Especially with new immigrants or somebody coming into her church. She was the first one over there (to greet them) ... we have many friends from Taiwan, India, Singapore, Iran. All kinds of people.”

Beck experienced this himself when she was named to the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame.

“The first time I met her she was 91 or 92, and to this day I’ve never met anyone that age that had that much energy, that much enthusiasm, that was still crystal clear,” said Beck.

“It blew me away. I remember walking out of that house thinking ‘That’s who I want to be when I’m 92.’ ”

Barbara Catherine Howard was born on May 8, 1920, in Vancouver, the youngest of five children.

Her family had deep roots in Vancouver — they moved here the year the city was incorporated.

“Her mother (Cassie Scurry) was from Winnipeg,” said Robson.

“She came here on the first train that came as far as Port Moody — that was when she was about four years old, in 1886. (She) has a street named after her near Metrotown, Cassie Avenue.

“It was named after her because her brother happened to be living on that street.”

Barbara’s grandfather Hiriam Thomas Scurry ran a barbershop at 25 Abbott Street in Gastown.

“She told me a story about her grandfather,” said Beck.

“During the Great Fire in 1886, he picked up his barber’s chair, put it on his back, ran with it into Burrard Inlet and saved it.”

Cassie Scurry married an American immigrant named Samuel Howard, who died when she was eight.

According to a 2011 story in Burnaby Now, her uncle Charles Scurry wound up supporting the Howard family.

Barbara grew up at 10th and Nanaimo in East Vancouver, attending Laura Secord and Britannia schools. She had never been away from home when she left Vancouver for Sydney, a 28-day voyage by ship.

She became the first person from a visible minority to be hired by the Vancouver School Board. She taught at several schools, and retired in 1984.

She was very active in the United Church, a devoted Canucks fan, and very giving to others — for years she drove to her local community centre to give hand massages to fellow seniors.

“The way she explained it to me, it wasn’t just the massage, it was (a chance) to pick people’s spirits up, kind of a way to talk face to face,” said Beck.

“She was just a busy, busy lady,” said Robson. “Full of inspiration, very kind and warm. Inclusive.”

A celebration of Barbara Howard’s life will be held at 1 p.m. on April 1 at St. Andrews Wesley Church in Vancouver. MORVAI, Vera 2:00 Bathurst Lawn Memorial Park. * See www.hebrewbasicburial.ca for shiva times