Founding President of the Overseas Nurses’ Association¹

Anne Marie Juliette Pelletier was born in Quebec City, the daughter of Colonel Oscar Pelletier and Alice Archer, and the granddaughter of Sir Charles-Alphonse-Pantaléon Pelletier, Lieutenant Governor of Quebec from 1908 to 1911. Educated at the Sillery Convent before graduating from the Montreal General Hospital School of Nursing in 1914, she enlisted as one of Canada’s first Nursing Sisters with the First Canadian Contingent in September of that year.

Serving overseas throughout the First World War, Juliette cared for wounded soldiers in France before serving with Canadian and British hospitals supporting the Dardanelles and Balkan campaigns. She later served in England before returning to Canada, where she concluded the war as Matron of the Valcartier Military Hospital.

In 1919, shortly after the war, Juliette travelled to Bombay (Mumbai) India to marry her fiancé, Captain Dr. G.A. Stuart Ramsey who was seconded to the Indian Medical Service. The couple settled in Montreal in 1923, where they raised a family and Juliette devoted herself to military, civic and charitable leadership.

Recognizing the importance of maintaining the bonds forged during wartime service, Juliette organized and became the first Dominion President of the Overseas Nurses’ Association of Canada, the organization that would later become the Nursing Sisters Association of Canada. She also served as Chairman of the Women’s Division of the Last Post Fund, held executive positions with the Association of Canadian Clubs, and was elected President of the Women’s Canadian Club of Montreal. A founding executive member of the Quebec Music Festival, she also served as Commandant of Auxiliary Services for the Montreal Branch of the Canadian Red Cross at the outbreak of the Second World War.

In 1941, while serving as President of the St. John Ambulance Brigade Nursing Divisions, Juliette answered the call to military service once again. Commissioned in the Canadian Women’s Army Corps, she helped organize the Corps in the Province of Quebec, serving as an instructor, assistant commandant and later recruiter before retiring in 1944 with the rank of Major.

Following the war, Juliette continued her lifelong commitment to public service through the Canadian National Institute for the Blind and St. John Ambulance. In recognition of her exceptional contributions, she was invested as a Dame of Grace of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in 1960 and served as Honorary Provincial President of the St. John Ambulance Women’s Auxiliary in Quebec. A St. John Ambulance Brigade Division was named in her honour, and “Ramsey House,” a residence dedicated to the rehabilitation and training of visually impaired women in Montreal, also bore her name.

Major Anne Marie Juliette Pelletier Ramsey died in Montreal on 12 June 1970, leaving a legacy of military nursing, veteran leadership and community service that spanned more than half a century.

Research Note: This profile has been compiled from a combination of official military service records, Library and Archives Canada holdings, Veterans Affairs Canada records, published historical sources, newspaper accounts, and, where available, family records and photographs. The Military Nurses Association of Canada gratefully acknowledges the assistance of family members who have shared information and images.

1. Later became the Nursing Sisters Association of Canada and then Military Nurses Association of Canada. ↩︎