Fonds jhse-84 - Freifeld family fonds

In 1924, sponsored and financed by her brother-in-law Leon Freifeld, Olga Freifeld and her children Eric and Anna, along with their Russian nurse Nyania, immigrated to Canada. Mrs. Freifeld's husband had passed away in Russia of typhus. Olga Freifeld, already trained as a nurse before leaving Russia, received Canadian accreditation upon achieving an acceptable level of English fluency. After achieving her accreditation through an internship at the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton, Mrs. Freifeld was employed as a public health nurse in Peers, Alberta covering a large district to the east of Edson. Mrs. Freifeld retired in 1940 and passed away in 1972. Both of Mrs. Freifeld's children also achieved prominence in their chosen fields. Eric Freifeld became one of Canada's most prominent artists and the chairman of the Fine Arts department of the Ontario College of Art. Anna Lemkow (Freifeld) worked as an economist at the United Nations in New York.

Olga Freifeld was born in Russia circa (ca.) 1882. She attended a medical college in Saratov, Russia and obtained the diploma of a Feldsheritza, a position midway between a nurse and doctor, in February 1913. She married between 1913 and 1919 and had two children, Anna and Eric. Her husband died of typhus and in 1924 and her brother-in-law, Leon Freifeld, financed the immigration of herself and her two children to Edmonton, Alberta. Olga Freifeld worked for a time at the University of Alberta hospital to become accredited for employment in Canada, and then moved to Peers, Alberta where she worked as a Public Health Nurse until her retirement ca. 1940. She died on August 8, 1972.