We received our Charter on January 11, 1996. The original charter members were Barbara Ysseldyk, Dorothy Moat, Gael Harvey, Linda Hatcher, Betty Nelles, Linda Arthur, Marilyn Taylor, Linda Dennis, Joan Moore, Jill Milne, Dorothy Attwool, and Catherine Eid.

How many members are currently in the Chapter?
As of April 2007, we have 12 members. New members are always welcome.

Why did we choose the name "Dr. Innis Mary MacDonald"?
When we were looking for a name for our new Chapter, we thought about using the name of a local Markham woman - and we had just heard about the talented Dr. MacDonald! We contacted her remaining relative, asked her permission to use her aunt's name, and we became the Dr. Innis Mary MacDonald Chapter, IODE.

The story of Dr. MacDonald!
Dr. Innis Mary MacDonald was born on November 14, 1902, in Markham, Ontario. She was the only daughter of Mary Innis Fleming and Dr. John A. MacDonald. She was named after her maternal grandmother. Her grandparents were William Fleming (the Checkerboard Champion - his tombstone is in the cemetery on the south side of Highway #7, in Markham, and is engraved with a checkerboard) and Innis MacKay of Cathiness, Scotland. The MacDonald family home was on the main street of Markham (more recently known as the Wilson House, in front of the Markham Village Lanes).

Innis contacted polio at the age of 7 or 8, and used a wheelchair for many years. Her father also broke her knee to stiffen her leg so that she could walk. She had a brace on her leg when she left for Oxford to study, and when she returned the brace was off. In later years, she used only a brace on her foot.

Innis earned her B.A. in 1924 and her medical degree in 1927, both from the University of Toronto. She attended the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Medicine during 1928 and 1929. She also studied in Scotland (the birthplace of her maternal grandmother) and was admitted to the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh, in 1933.

Dr. Innis MacDonald was the first female medical health officer in York County. She was the only female doctor in Canada to be a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons.

People who shared their memories of Innis said that it was very unusual for a woman to practice medicine and even more unusual to be an opthamologist at that time. Her patients came to visit her (because of her foot brace she did not travel to visit patients very often). Flora Bajari, a local florist, remembers Dr. MacDonald visiting her at home when she suffered from measles. She came to check on her eyes (remember when you were kept in a darkened room when you had measles!)

She was known to be good at needlework. She never married, and had no children. Innis had two brothers: Robert and Fergus. Fergus married a woman named Mae. In the obituary for Innis, a niece, Marlene Findlay, and a nephew, John MacDonald were mentioned. We assume they were the children of Fergus. There was no further information about Robert. Marlene Findlay lives in Stouffville, Ontario.

Innis died on July 5th, 1983, at 81 years of age. She had practised medicine until she was 75 years old! For part of that time she was in practise with her father.

For a woman who accomplished so much, she was given very little recognition. Her medical instruments are now stored at the Markham Museum.

In January, 1996 the new Markham Chapter of the IODE, with permission of her family, was named the Dr. Innis Mary MacDonald Chapter, IODE.