HNATYSHYN o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2006-12-23 published
Mary DE BELLEFEUILLE-
PERCY,
Civil
Servant (1943-2006)
Known as the voice of Rideau Hall, she served five governors-general
and set exactly the right tone at ceremonies and investitures.
'People stood a little straighter when she walked into a room.'
By Buzz BOURDON,
Special to The Globe and Mail, Page S9
Ottawa -- When Mary DE
BELLEFEUILLE-
PERCY retired from Rideau
Hall, after 18 years of working for five successive governors-general,
Governor-General Michäelle
JEAN asked her to reconsider and stay
on. Her experience and knowledge were just too valuable to lose.
Working as the director of honours in the Office of the Secretary
to the Governor-General from 1995 to 2006, Mrs. DE
BELLEFEUILLE-
PERCY
held a key position in the Chancellery of Honours. Leading a
team of 28 people, she was responsible for administering the
nomination and selection process for 30 honours and awards.
Each year, hundreds of Canadians receive honours and awards from
the governor-general, who is the personal representative of the
Queen. While the sovereign rarely presents honours in person
to her Canadian subjects, "The Crown [remains] the fount of all
honour," wrote Christopher McCreery in his 2005 book The Order
of Canada: Its Origins, History and Development.
Established in 1972, five years after the Order of Canada was
introduced, the honours system includes the Victoria Cross, the
Cross of Valour, the Star of Courage and the Medal of Bravery.
Over the past 15 years, Mrs. DE
BELLEFEUILLE-
PERCY played a key
role in creating many new decorations and orders, including the
General Campaign Star and the General Service Medal.
But she was best known for her very public role as master of
ceremonies during investitures held in the gold-and-white ballroom
at Rideau Hall. Presided over by the governor-general of the
day -- Mrs. DE
BELLEFEUILLE-
PERCY worked for Jeanne
SAUVÉ,
Ray
HNATYSHYN, Roméo
LEBLANC, Adrienne
CLARKSON and Ms.
JEAN -- her
job was to read, with suitable aplomb, the names and citations
of each recipient as they walked forward to accept their award.
Officiating at about 20 investitures per year, the modest and
unassuming Mrs. DE
BELLEFEUILLE-
PERCY quickly became known as
"the voice of Rideau Hall." Standing at her podium to the right
of the governor-general, her clear, precise and elegant tones
in both official languages -- she was perfectly bilingual --
lent an air of dignity and solemnity to the event.
"On occasion, she was also the voice of Canada. She emceed the
ceremony held on Parliament Hill as a tribute to all those affected
by the terrorist attack on the U.S. on September 11, 2001," said
her deputy, Danielle
DOUGALL. "
She was often recognized in public
and people would say, 'you're the elegant lady on television.'
People stood a little straighter when she walked into a room.
Her whole demeanour spoke volumes."
But Mrs. DE
BELLEFEUILLE-
PERCY never took anything for granted,
Mrs. DOUGALL said. "She was very professional. She'd rehearse
before the ceremony. You have to know where to pause, where to
be emotional. If it got emotionally stressful [for her] she'd
just concentrate on reading the words, and not the story behind
the words. She was a very caring and compassionate person. She
was everything to me. We were best Friends and soulmates for
10 years."
Mrs. DE BELLEFEUILLE-
PERCY was also good at making people feel
welcome in Rideau Hall, helping to dispense hospitality at about
200 events per year. She met hundreds of celebrities, athletes,
business moguls, politicians and foreign heads of state and government,
but she never failed to connect with ordinary people, Mrs.
DOUGALL
said.
"I remember one shy 10-year-old who had just received a Medal
of Bravery. With her usual magic touch, Mary went to him and
I saw them leave the ballroom together. When they returned shortly
after, the child was holding a plate [of food]. Lunch was running
late and he was hungry."
She understood that Rideau Hall's formality could be intimidating,
"particularly [to] recipients of bravery awards and their families
who sometimes came from remote parts of Canada," Mrs.
DOUGALL
said. "Some of them had never left their community, let alone
travelled by plane to the nation's capital. When Mary noticed
people looking a little lost or anxious, she immediately went
over and reassured them."
Mrs. DE BELLEFEUILLE-
PERCY also rubbed elbows with such celebrities
as Nelson Mandela and Wayne Gretzky, yet never acquired airs,
said her daughter, Kimberly. "She was extremely modest and humble
about what she did. She didn't boast or brag about it even though
she met some very famous people. It never went to her head."
What seemed to affect her was meeting people who had committed
acts of bravery, said her husband, Keith. "She'd come back in
the evening and talk about what people had done to get their
award. She was really touched by their feats of bravery and service
to the community -- the qualities and dedication of ordinary
Canadians."
Kimberly DE
BELLEFEUILLE-
PERCY only once saw her mother on the
job. In 2003, she went along to a military investiture at Quebec
City's Citadel, an imposing structure that is sometimes called
the second viceregal home. "It was a moving [and] emotional ceremony
and it was wonderful to see her in action," Ms. DE
BELLEFEUILLE-
PERCY
said. "She had a presence about her in both her personal and
work life. People were really drawn to her."
Mrs. DE BELLEFEUILLE-
PERCY grew up in Ottawa. A clever youngster,
she was admitted to the University of Ottawa at the precocious
age of 16. After teaching French and English to Grades 3 to 9
in Ottawa and Fort William, now Thunder Bay, she worked as a
writer, producer and on-camera presenter for educational television
programs for the Ottawa Board of Education.
Mrs. DE BELLEFEUILLE-
PERCY was also something of an actress,
appearing in Ottawa Little Theatre productions in the late 1960s
and early 1970s. In 1972, she took the role of Betty in Paddy
Chayevsky's play Middle of the Night. Playing the part of a girl
who falls for an older man, she soon fell for her leading man,
her future husband Keith. They married two years later.
"She blew me away. I thought she was the beginning and the end
sexy and smart," said Mr. DE
BELLEFEUILLE-
PERCY. He swept
her off to Washington, where he worked as a diplomat at the Canadian
embassy. After they returned home to Ottawa, she spent from 1974 to
1976 as the office manager of The Globe and Mail.
In 1988, everything changed. Rideau Hall hired Mrs. DE
BELLEFEUILLE-
PERCY
as director of information services and was given the job of
increasing public awareness of the governor-general's role and
responsibilities. "She was absolutely dedicated to the office
of the governor-general and its role," Mr. DE
BELLEFEUILLE-
PERCY
said. "She would have been happier if the role was better understood."
Over the years, Mrs. DE
BELLEFEUILLE-
PERCY got her share of awards,
too. In 1992, she received the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation
of Canada Medal, and 10 years later was given the Queen Elizabeth
II Golden Jubilee Medal. This year, she was awarded centennial
medals by the governments of Alberta and Saskatchewan.
During Mrs. DE
BELLEFEUILLE-
PERCY's final 15 months at Rideau
Hall, she served as acting deputy secretary of the Chancellery
of Honours, with responsibility for policy advice and the administration
of honours and heraldry.
Earlier this year, Ms.
JEAN learned that Mrs. DE
BELLEFEUILLE-
PERCY's
decision to retire was final and decided to honour her with a
farewell reception in Rideau Hall's historic Tent Room on June 30.
"Mary, herself, is irreplaceable," she told about 60 guests.
Mary Kathleen DE
BELLEFEUILLE-
PERCY was born on January 28, 1943,
in Ottawa. She died there of a heart attack on November 7, 2006.
She was 63. She leaves her husband Keith, daughter Kimberly,
son Kristian, brothers Terry and Pat. She was predeceased by
her brother Mike.
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