Dr. F. Marguerite (Peggy) Hill
May 24, 1919 - January 15, 2012
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Dr. F. Marguerite (Peggy) Hill on the morning of January 15, 2012. Dr. Hill died peacefully in the comfort of the Toronto home built by her father, and where she lived her life. She was predeceased by her parents, Gertrude and Frederick Hill, sisters Mabel and Edna, and is survived by her niece, Patricia (Smyth).
Dr. Hill was born on May 24, 1919 into a family that encouraged independence and self-sufficiency. During her high school years at North Toronto Collegiate, she was a brilliant and well-rounded student who excelled in both her studies and athletics. It was there that she first encountered Dr. Marion Hilliard, an accomplished obstetrician, and first considered a career in medicine. However, her family was unsupportive - medicine was not a suitable career for a women. Thus, she studied Psychology, completing a Masters degree at the University of Toronto. In 1941 she enlisted in the Canadian Women's Army Corps in WW II, achieving the rank of Captain and serving as one of the few women psychologists. On her discharge in 1946, she decided to pursue studies in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. She graduated with a Doctor of Medicine in 1952, and at the top of her class. She subsequently became the first female chief medical resident at the Toronto General Hospital in 1957. Following her training in internal medicine and nephrology, Peggy Hill joined the Department of Medicine at Women's College Hospital. For 26 years she practiced at Women's as a teacher, clinician and researcher, and for many of these years, Physician- in-Chief of Medicine - only the second woman to achieve such a distinction at a University of Toronto teaching hospital. During that lengthy tenure, she worked tirelessly to establish the culture of compassionate, interdisciplinary, patient-centred care that defines Women's College today. Dr. Hill was a role model; she contributed significantly to the opening of new frontiers for women in medicine. She was a founding member of the Canadian Society for Nephrologists and a member of the Federation of Medical Women of Canada. In 1968, she was promoted to full professor at the University of Toronto, and became the first woman ever to be appointed to the Board of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. On July 1st 1994, Dr. Hill was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada for her efforts in teaching and patient care. In retirement, Dr. Hill's travels took her from the Amazon to the Arctic, from Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand to Europe and the UK, and from one end of North America to the other. On Baffin Island the ''Peggy and Shirley Falls'' were named in recognition of the many summers she and close friend Dr. Shirley Flemming spent at the Bathurst Inlet Lodge. Her special interests included bird watching, snorkeling, boating on the canals of Europe as well as the Bay of Fundy, and taking in art galleries, gardens and museums along the way. Many trips were made with sorority friends from University with whom she remained close.When Dr. Hill retired from Women's in 1984 her friends, colleagues and patients established an endowment in her name. Through the generosity of these individuals, and Dr Hill herself, this fund has grown, providing funding for a Chair in Academic Women's Medicine and an annual lectureship, which pays tribute to women leaders in academic medicine.
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