Naval Museum of Alberta Society pays tribute to trailblazer Laraine Orthlieb by naming annex centre after her

Annex building at HMCS Tecumseh renamed to honour Commodore (Ret'd) Laraine Orthlieb. Tyler Barrow reports.

The Naval Museum of Alberta Society (NMAS) renamed its Annex Centre after Commodore (Retired) Laraine Orthlieb Saturday, who was a trailblazer in advancing the inclusion of women in the Canadian Armed Forces.

From the sounds of NMAS president Scott Hausberg, it was a pretty easy choice.

“Commodore Orthlieb is a pioneer in terms of advancement of women in the Canadian Forces in the Royal Canadian Navy,” Hauser said.

“She was the first female flag officer in the navy. She was the second commanding officer of any ship in the navy that being the HMCS Tecumseh,” he added.

“She is, of course, the one that had the inspiration after the fire in 1981 to do something to preserve the artifacts that were on the grounds here, specifically the three airplanes that were there and had survived the fire but were being damaged by the environment.

“So she formed the Tecumseh Historical Society to build a building that would house the airplanes and other artifacts and teach naval history. And this is what you have right beside you.”

In 1983, Orthlieb formed the Tecumseh Historical Society (later renamed to NMAS) to preserve naval artifacts salvaged from the 1981 fire. This led to the construction of the Naval Museum of Alberta which opened in 1988 and which is currently the largest naval museum in Canada.

‘A great honour’

Commodore (Retired) Orthlieb was on hand for the event, and graciously thanked everyone who raised funds to facilitate the name change.

“It is a great honor for me to have this building carry my my name, because this building has so many stories to tell,” Orthlieb said. “The whole Calgary naval community worked very hard to raise funds in order to build it, and the City of Calgary gave us a very generous community grant. The funds were raised by many of the people sitting here today.

“My sincere thanks to all of those who have put so much effort into this building for many years.”

‘Kicked down doors for us’

Rear Admiral Jennifer Bennett served under Orthlieb and was grateful for everything she did for subsequent generations of women in the military.

“She not only opened doors, but she kicked down doors for us,” Bennett said. “She was a champion for women at a time when our roles were very limited in the navy.

“Women couldn’t go to sea,” she said. “She also advocated for the naval reserve and a much more operational role for the naval reserve. So as a junior officer, I was able to be able to look at my potential future success in her career.

“She was someone who was willing to speak, not only her mind, but to champion issues for others, no matter what it took. She took a lot of chances, and she was not only a trailblazer, but I think, a very different type of role model.

“She was bold and she spoke her mind. She was an incredible advocate for us when we needed it most. And she was also often all alone.”

With files from CTV Calgary’s Tyler Barrow