By Katarzyna Pipin
If you’ve never met Mary Ierullo, picture Sophia Petrillo from The Golden Girls.
Not only is she Italian with a similar stature, but she also tells stories with the same animation.
When spending time with her, a whole day can go by without you realizing it.
At 83, Ierullo has accomplished so much in her lifetime, she could be considered a living legend.
Perhaps the best way of describing her is that she is a woman of many firsts.
Ierullo was the first woman real estate broker in Canada. She was also the capital’s first woman court interpreter, translating many Italian dialects into English and vice versa.
Besides this, Ierullo was the first to set up a prenatal clinic for immigrant women at the Civic Hospital in the early 1950s.
A decade later, Ierullo fought expropriation of homes and helped establish zoning in the region.
Her home was also the first in the community to display the Papal and Italian flags, inspiring others to do the same.
When asked if she realizes how much she’s done for her community, Ierullo modestly replies, “What we can make of our lives, is what God intended us to do.”
In 1928, Ierullo came to Canada from Italy at the age of eight along with her mother, uncle and grandmother.
Her mother set the trend for her daughter by becoming the first woman telegraph operator in Italy after receiving special permission from the government.
She became a widow at 27, and came to Canada to start a new life.
Shortly after arriving, her mother opened her own embroidery shop on George Street, where Ierullo would help out after school.
“My father died very young and I had to learn,” she says.
“My mother taught me to take what I had and use it to my best ability to make a home for myself and her.”
When Ierullo was still in school, she dreamt of being a missionary.
Inspired by the 1933 Gary Cooper film, The Bitter Tea of General Yen, she says she wanted to travel to China to help those in need.
“I was bound and I wanted to go,” she says. But she laughs as she recounts her “pushy” husband who convinced her to marry him. They had three children: Peter, Anthony and Angela.
Although Ierullo never lived out her dream of becoming a missionary, her willingness to help others has never left her. Whenever she saw there was a need in her community, Ierullo was the first to help out.
In the early 1950s, after seeing that many young pregnant women were alone in their new country she suggested the creation of a prenatal clinic.
“They were worried and scared. I’d be talking to girls ready to go into labour who needed someone to go with them,” says Ierullo.
After discussing the matter with Father Jerome of St. Anthony’s Church and doctors at the Civic hospital, everyone agreed on the idea.
Not only was she useful in interpreting between the doctors and patients, Ierullo established herself as a kind of surrogate mother.
“I went into the labour room and held their hand. They called me their ‘other mother.’ ”
Ierullo not only interpreted at the hospital, but in 1952 she was asked to lend her services to the courts, which she did for the next 45 years.
“Once I interpreted for six hours straight and after they gave me a standing ovation!” she exclaims.
At a time when men were making up to four times as much as women, Ierullo says it gave her reason to get involved with the unions to fight for equality in the workforce.
“There weren’t many women back then who had the opportunity to do these things — there was no equality. My mother was one of those women who broke walls,” says her daughter Angela.
One of the walls Ierullo faced was at a time when her husband could no longer work because of three consecutive accidents at work. Ierullo looked to real estate to help with the family’s bills.
Shortly after gaining experience as an agent, Ierullo decided to open her own business in 1953.
The sign on her office read, “Ottawa’s first Real Estate Office to Help Canadians and New Canadians of Average Earnings.”
Ierullo had 16 agents working for her, including her husband. Most were women, who together spoke six different languages to meet the needs of the community.
At first, Ierullo was told that because she was a woman, she wouldn’t get the same business opportunities.
“I looked them in the eyes and said, ‘I’m just the same as you.’ I opened my business and put my heart and soul into it,” she says.
“I was the first woman who started a real estate business with no car and a baby carriage.”
When immigrants looking to buy their first homes came to Ierullo, she says it was through education that she helped them make the right decisions.
“I never lost a home or a mortgage to anybody. And they trusted me completely.”
Ierullo says she still remembers everyone she helped and many haven’t forgotten her either.
“Mary never asked for more money or for interest,” says Maria Martino Bonacci, whose father bought his first house from Ierullo’s agency.
“Otherwise, she would be a millionaire.”
Ierullo says whenever there was a need, she was encouraged by her mother to “roll up (her) sleeves and get in there.”
In the early 1960s when many people were losing their homes to the city because of reconstruction, that’s exactly what Ierullo did.
Along with her husband and Ottawa’s first woman mayor, Charlotte Whitton, she collected more than 2,500 signatures and fought for independent appraisers who would give home owners a better deal.
Today, many of those people who know Ierullo consider her to be a cornerstone of the community.
In February, she was recognized by the Italian-Canadian Women of the Village, for her lifetime of service to the people of the Preston Street area. Established this year, it is the first such award that aims to recognize women who contribute to the community.
When Ierullo learned she was one of two women to receive this recognition, she says she was surprised.
“Oh brother! I could’ve gone through the floor!”
In June, the Canadian Museum of Civilization will feature Ierullo’s story as part of its exhibit on the contributions of Italian-Canadians to Canada.
“She was one of those pioneering women,” says Ariella Hostetter, contract consultant for the exhibit.
“All too often Italian women are stereotyped as dishing out the pasta, but in fact they were working shoulder to shoulder with their husbands,” she says.
At 83, Ierullo is enjoying life and continues to contribute to society.
In the future, she says she plans to write children’s books along with her daughter, because she feels children have always touched her life and she wants to give something back.
It’s hard to believe so much is still coming from a woman who has already given so much.