Trudy Johnson was born October 2, 1947, the eldest of four children of Harry and Vi Johnson. She grew up in Thornhill, Ontario. She attended Thornhill Secondary School and was an active member of Thornhill United Church. She spent many summers at Camp Illahee (originally a Y. W. C. A. camp for children with diabetes) in Cobourg, first as a counsellor and then as a nurse in the infirmary. She would later work as a Nurse at Camp Huronda (located in Huntsville, Ontario) another camp for children with diabetes. This is where her affinity for caring for children became evident.
Trudy enrolled in the Wellesley Hospital School of Nursing in 1967, graduating in 1970 and was the class valedictorian. After graduation she headed to California with a friend and had some unforgettable experiences (including the San Fernando earthquake of 1971.)
She spent her nursing career at the Hospital for Sick Children, where her true love was bedside nursing. A physician she worked with commented “she had the ability to put herself in the shoes of the children for whom she cared, and really communicate with them. This helped ease a child’s pain, when undergoing a scary experience, such as being in hospital.’
Trudy passed away on February 3, 2015.