18 Facts About Flora Eaton

Flora Eaton moved to Toronto and became a nurse, first at Toronto General Hospital then at Rotherham House, a private hospital on Sherbourne Street.

Flora Eaton was active in charity work during the war, hosting fundraisers at Ardwold and serving as patroness of the 109th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force based at Lindsay, Ontario, near her hometown.

Lady Flora Eaton was widowed in 1922 when her husband died of influenza at the age of 45.

In 1919, prior to his death, Sir John and Lady Flora Eaton had purchased a plot of land in King City, Ontario, near the Marylake estate of their friends, Sir Henry and Lady Pellatt.

In 1933, Lady Flora Eaton was presented at court, and later that same year, she presented her future daughter-in-law, Signy Stefansson.

Flora Eaton sat on the board of directors and took an active role in the company, overseeing the development of restaurants, most notably the Georgian Room at the Queen Street store, Eaton's Seventh Floor Restaurant at the College Street store and Eaton's Ninth Floor Restaurant in Montreal.

On her many visits to Britain, Lady Flora Eaton became fascinated by the liturgical pageantry of the Church of England.

Flora Eaton incorporated some elements of the Anglican church into services at Timothy Eaton Memorial Church.

However, due to the influence that Lady Flora Eaton held, the changes went ahead.

Flora Eaton hosted a banquet for Eaton's employees returning from the front in September 1946.

Flora Eaton hosted an annual soiree for Eaton's managers and their wives.

Flora Eaton was vice-president of the Canadian Red Cross, Master of the Toronto Hunt Club and was involved with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, the Art Gallery of Toronto and the Canadian National Committee for Mental Hygiene.

In 1950, in recognition of her charity work, Lady Flora Eaton was made a Dame of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem.

At the height of the store's success, Lady Flora Eaton was popularly known as "Mrs Canada".

Interested in the occult, Lady Flora Eaton had a seance room built in the turret of Flora Eaton Hall.

Flora Eaton died at home on July 9,1970, at the age of 90.

Flora Eaton was interred in the Eaton Mausoleum at Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

Lady Flora Eaton's legacy is still felt to this day, particularly in her hometown of Omemee and surrounding area.