Constance Court

Named for Constance Murphy

Constance Court is named after one of ENF’s original members, Derek Murphy. Constance was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in 1913. Constance was a public health nurse in 1933, during the Great Depression in Europe, prior to beginning her family. Constance specialized in children with mental handicaps and during World War II, she continued to work as a nurse in Holland. These years were difficult, with deep poverty and military oppression. After the war, she began to work in the refugee camps in Germany. There she met her husband and married in 1946. Her husband was a director of medical and mental health services in a number of camps serving many including Jewish and Polish refugees. At this time her marriage was somewhat controversial. As a Catholic, Constance was discouraged from marrying her husband who was an agnostic. Constance remained a devout Catholic throughout her life, but remained strongly rooted in the Dutch tradition of reform and tolerance. Constance and her husband had four children while working in different countries and camps throughout Europe and the family left for the United States in 1957 for New York where they had their 5th child. After two years in New York, the family decided to leave for Montreal in 1959. The move was borne out of a fear of the conservative political atmosphere in the US, including the fear of being blacklisted by the government, the lack of social programs, and of the mandatory military draft facing their three sons.

Constance returned to nursing part-time to help the family financially while in Montreal and remained active in the community volunteering. She also travelled extensively with her husband, living for up to twelve months at a time in Hawaii, Fiji and Singapore. In 1978 Constance decided to return to school and at the age of 65 she obtained a Diploma in Gerontology. She then focused her volunteering to work with isolated seniors.

Throughout her life, Constance was motivated by a strong sense of social justice. After experiencing the horrors of World War II and its aftermath, she had a special concern for human rights, supporting Amnesty International and also instilling in her children a strong sense of responsibility and a commitment to social justice. ENF continues this work in social justice and empowerment working with those most vulnerable to ensure their place in society.