‘She was the role model for what could be done’
Lunenburg legion honours first female brigadier general with name change
As an 18-year-old Luneburg Academy grad, Sheila Hellstrom left her hometown to join the RCAF Reserve Training Program when she went to Mount Allison University in 1954. She was commissioned into the RCAF in 1956.
History-making achievements marked Hellstrom’s 36 years of distinguished service before her retirement in 1990. Now Hellstrom is being honoured by changing the name of Royal Canadian Legion Branch 23 in Lunenburg, where her grandfather and father played an active role, to the Brigadier General Sheila Hellstrom, Branch 23, Lunenburg.
In an obituary published after her death in Ottawa in December 2020 at the age of 85, it was noted Hellstrom was the first woman posted to 2 Canadian Forces Technical Services Agency Montreal in 1969 and the first woman to attend the Canadian Forces Staff College in 1973. She was also remembered as a great leader who was the first Canadian woman to achieve the rank of brigadier general in 1987.
“We brought it to the executive and everybody agreed that we should name our branch after the first female Brigadier General of the Canadian Forces,” said Arleigh Robar, president of Branch 23, which has 149 members.
“It’s to honour her legacy of being a female officer in the early 60s, 70s and 80s. To become a brigadier general is a huge feat in my mind,” Robar said.
“She had to have a strong will to survive the military and be promoted through the
ranks. It was a male dominated world at that time.”
The name was changed during a renaming ceremony held on Nov. 6 at Branch 23 with the unveiling of a stone monument and a brass plaque.
During an interview, Hellstrom’s cousin, Murray Barkhouse of Hebbville, said he is pleased with the legion’s decision to honour her.
“I am proud of her because of what she accomplished in her lifetime,” said Barkhouse.
“Particularly that the women in the air force that I came in contact with hold her in very high esteem,” he said.
Lunenburg resident Cheryl Lamerson is one of those women.
“I think that is fantastic. There are not a lot of legions in the country that have a name associated with them,” Lamerson said. “I think the respect they have for her is impressive.”
Lamerson retired from the Royal Canadian Airforce in 2008 after 32 years of service with the rank of Colonel.
During an interview, Lamerson said she met Hellstrom in 1986 and they crossed paths several times over the years. Lamerson followed Hellstom into several key positions.
“When she was promoted to brigadier general, every woman in the military knew she was promoted. And for me, and I’m sure for a lot of women, suddenly we realized we could aspire to general rank because up until that time we couldn’t,” Lamerson remembered.
“If the first rank of general was available to us, then soon the other three would be. It was pretty inspiring. She was the role model for what could be done,” Lamerson said.
Lamerson described Hellstrom as a “ground breaker and history maker.”
“She was not only the first brigadier general in the regular force but there were other jobs she had or courses she went on where she was the first woman to do that,” Lamerson said.
“She was several times over a ground breaker. Just the fact she continued in a career of firsts was pretty impressive.”
Lamerson was one of the people who memorialized Hellstom during a Celebration of Life service held at Hillcrest Cemetery in Lunenburg on Oct. 16, 2021. A flag party from Branch 23 participated in the service and there was a CP-140 Aurora flyby from 14 Wing Greenwood. Former Lunenburg Academy classmates of Hellstrom attended the service.
“It touched my heart to be able to say how much she had touched my life,” Lamerson said. “She was just such a nice person, but also such a
good leader and such a quietly inspiring person. You didn’t get the flashy leadership style. You didn’t get the John Wayne kind of leadership. You got a very sold, very strong, very positive leadership.”
Lamerson was impressed Hellstrom maintained membership in her church, membership in the Lunenburg Academy Foundation and her subscription to the local newspaper while living away for so many years.
“She maintained contact with her hometown even after her parents were gone,” Lamerson said, adding she always held Hellstrom in the highest esteem.
“Even when she retired, she was still brigadier general or ma’am to me. Although when she retired, she tried to get me to call her by her first name. It was only after I retired and moved to Lunenburg that I felt comfortable, sometimes, to use her first name. Ma’am just felt right,” Lamerson said.