Doris Olive Rhea Allin Johnson (1913–1994): Nurse, Leader, and Beloved Community Member

Doris Allin was born in 1913 in Oakland Township near Brantford, Ontario. She was a strong student and appeared on the Ontario Upper School Honour List in 1933. As a young woman, she became active in the Brantford Presbytery Young People’s Union and entered nurses’ training at Brantford General Hospital, graduating in 1941. Eager to serve in remote communities, she later joined the United Church’s Home Mission program.

In August 1942, Doris made the long train journey to Burns Lake, British Columbia. She arrived at dawn on a foggy and freezing morning. Mr. Roumieu, game warden, guided her along the railway tracks to the hospital. Within minutes, she was in uniform, helping to care for a newborn baby before she had even eaten breakfast. That first breakfast included hot cereal and coffee, which she tried to enjoy despite the unfamiliar taste of goat’s milk. Later that morning, she was already making plaster bandages and assisting with surgery.

As one of only two wartime nurses at the Burns Lake hospital, Doris worked in extremely challenging conditions. She delivered babies, administered anesthetics, and assisted with surgeries, often without the support of a doctor. She conducted her work in facilities lit by coal-oil lamps and heated by slab wood furnaces. Despite these obstacles, Doris served with calm, skill, and extraordinary dedication.

In 1948, she returned to Ontario to care for her ailing mother and work as a nursing matron and educator. In 1960, she returned to northern British Columbia as administrator of the new Burns Lake & District Hospital. She led the facility through its expansion in 1971 and remained in that role until her retirement in 1973.

In 1976, Doris married Esbjorn Johnson and became a beloved member of the Johnson and Strimbold families. Though their marriage lasted only six years (Esbjorn died in 1982), she remained close to her extended family and was a loving stepmother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.

Throughout her life, Doris remained deeply involved in her community. She served on the hospital board and was an active member of the Canadian Cancer Society, the Women’s Institute, and St. Paul’s United Church. In 1989, she was named Burns Lake’s Citizen of the Year. 

Doris loved animals, maintained her independence, and always placed the needs of others before her own. Her legacy lives on in the countless lives she touched and in the history of northern health care.