Delores "Tubby" Kinsella

The daughter of a woman who taught at St. Francis of Assisi donated a series of hand-made yearbooks to the museum last week. When reading through these books, I came across an entry that was made by our very own former Heritage Committee Chair, Delores Wheeler (nee Kinsella).


Her entry reads:
     
     "My name is Delours 'Tubby' Kinsella. My eyes are green and my hair is brown.
     I was born on August 7th 1958 in St. Claire's Hospital.
     We have ten in the family, nine girls and one boy.
     The hobby I like most is collecting stamps to help the sick.
     I have something that interests me and that is swimming. It interests me because it is something to do in the summertime. 
     My favorite joke is
     Q, What did the man say when he threw the clock through the window
     A, He said, 'See how time flies?'" 

I asked Delores where the nickname "Tubby" came from, and she replied:

     "I was a little 'chunky' when I was young and one of my nicknames was 'Tubby'.   We all had nicknames that suited different occasions back then."

She went on to explain the mispelling of her name in the entry:

     "You'll notice my name is spelled different from now. When I got in Grade 7 my teacher told me I was spelling my name wrong.  I started spelling it the correct way"

Delores was on the original Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove Heritage Committee. She, and the other members, established this museum in 1997. A trip to Trinity made her realize that her own community needed a museum to preserve its rich and unique history.

It seems Delores has always liked helping others, as her childhood hobby was "collecting stamps to help the sick." Delores retired from the committee this year, after twenty years of devoted service to her community. She is an incredible woman, and as you can see in the photo above, an adorable little girl. 

-Katie Harvey

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