Fonds MG 52 - Janet Berton fonds (MG 52)

Janet Berton was born Janet Walker in Fernie, British Columbia on 29 June 1920. Her parents moved to Haney in the Fraser Valley when she was 15.

In 1938 she enrolled at the University of British Columbia. Ms. Walker was very active in campus life, taking on a variety of roles that included being an executive member of more than a dozen organizations including Phrateres, The Letters Club, The Alpha Delta Pi Sorority, the Radio Society and the Student Christian Movement. However, her main interest was journalism, and she edited the student handbook, Tillicum, and served on the editorial board of the UBC yearbook, The Totem. Eventually she would become the senior editor of the Tuesday edition of the semi-weekly campus paper, the Ubyssey. The Friday editor was Pierre Berton, whom she would eventually marry several years later.

Her career in journalism continued after her graduation in 1941 when she went to work for the Vancouver Daily Province. In 1946 she had to give up her career at the Province after marrying Pierre Berton, as he was a reporter for the rival Sun newspaper. In the summer of 1947 Pierre became assistant editor at Maclean’s and the couple moved to Kleinburg, Ontario in 1959. The Bertons raised eight children, including one adopted daughter and one foster son.

Mrs. Berton is a community-minded individual who was active in a variety of different organizations. She served on the Heritage Vaughan Committee beginning in 1981, and was a member of the executive for both the Kleinburg and Area Ratepayers’ Association (KARA) and the Kleinburg Binder Twine Festival. She was also a past president of the University Women’s Club of North York, a vice-president of the University Women’s Club of the Town of Vaughan, and editor of the national Chronicle of the University Women’s Club of Canada. She co-edited the 60 year history and the 75 year history of the Canadian Federation of University Women.

Mrs. Berton was a founding organizer of HELP, a local information and referral service in Vaughan. She also volunteered her time to several organizations, including Dellcrest Children’s Home for Disturbed Children, The Kleinburg Home and School Association, the Kleinburg United Church (of which she sat on the Board of Stewards) which included running the Explorer’s Group for Girls between the ages of 8 and 11 for over twenty years. She also served on the Humber Heritage Committee and Community Heritage Ontario. In 1992 she received a Volunteer Service Award for her outstanding contributions.