Hilda was the extrovert of the two girls, good at sports and energetic. She was
very like Dad: they had a lot in common and were especially fond of each other.
Her tutoring of little brother was easier than Helen's musical assignment, and
she taught me to ride a bicycle, paddle a canoe, play tennis and probably also
golf. She even tried teaching me to dance, but would break down into giggles
when I could not master the art of leading and would try nudging her in this
direction or that. She was so good at golf that when in her seventies she won
the senior ladies tournament at the Royal Ottawa Golf Club three years in a row.
She was also a Junior Leaguer and once had a number of American members
attending a convention to a party at our house, when I, aged about 10, shyly
refused a command appearance and instead ogled the girls through the stair
bannisters. She studied painting at the Art Gallery with Wm. Brymner: she had
talent, but was less than dedicated and nothing of her efforts has survived. She
was a popular girl and had at least one serious love affair before marrying
Stanton Mathewson (see ``FAMILY'' album, p.44), a soldier (at one time colonel
of the Montreal Black Watch) and a stock-broker. They had no children. They
lived in various apartments in Montreal and, after he returned from World War
II, in a small house in Ottawa
.
Stanton died there in 1957 and Hilda stayed in the house for some 10 years,
when, suffering from Parkinson's disease she retired into nursing homes and
remains today,
in hospital, over 90.