Maureen Simpson
“We all have life and we’re all supposed to live together, so let’s do that. Like flowers in the fields, you don’t have all pink flowers, all red flowers, all purple flowers together, you have a menagerie. The pink ones look good on their own, the yellow ones look good on their own, but when you put them together you get a bouquet. They all come together to make beauty.”
Maureen Simpson, born May 1943, is someone that lives life to the fullest. Above all, she values human connection and compassion. This sense of kinship with all people has led her to travel the world and embrace everyone in her life and through her work.
Produced by Jett Major Thompson-Davidson and Julia Pham
Jett Major Thompson-Davidson, born January 26th 2004, is a young learner and student with many different passions. His interests include playing the saxophone, reading about history/geography, cycling, and photography. In the future, Jett hopes that he’ll be able to travel to many places and experience various different cultures around the world.
Jullia Pham, born on February 3, 2004, is a creative student with a willingness to learn. She enjoys playing soccer, being outdoors and writing poetry. Jullia hopes to impact many lives with her artistic ability in the future.
More about Maureen
Maureen Simpson was born on May 13th, 1943 in Jamaica. Growing up in Jamaica, she quickly gained an appreciation for the simple things in life, being with friends and family, good food, and nice clothes. Having gone to a British colonial school and being forced to wear a uniform, she grew tired of the regimented style of living that she experienced. This led her to learning how to design and make her own clothes, a hobby of her’s which she would hold onto throughout her life.
In her 20s, she moved from Jamaica to Canada to pursue a career in finance, going to York University to study accounting, but along the way her passion for making and mending clothes resulted in her opening a business for sewing. After finishing her accounting studies, she then went to Seneca College and Ryerson University to study fashion design.
Maureen's experience of moving from Jamaica to Canada was an eye opening moment for her. Ever since then, she is always looking for a new place to travel or to stop by and visit by home. Over the years, she has visited The Netherlands, France, Belgium, Italy, The Bahamas, and many other places. She uses her expertise in finance to make enough room in her budget to find the money for her adventures.
Now, Maureen lives a very social life with her community. She often teaches sewing and cooking classes in her local community center, always making sure to add many words of wisdom alongside. Maureen is truly a wise person, and be sure that she'll be off to another far away location to spread her lively energy and charisma with the world.