Living life to the fullest: remembering Dinnie (Alice Dorinda) Greenway BA’42

Alice ‘Dinnie’ Greenway was a muti-faceted athlete, avid horsewoman, and founding member of the Western’s Women’s Athletic Alumnae organization.

By Helen Luckman

Dinnie Greenway photo courtesy of Susan Thomas Paddick

Throughout her almost 103 years, Dinnie Greenway accepted (with gusto) the joys, challenges and even the odd disappointment life gave her. From her earliest years Dinnie and her family were part of the multi-dimensional fabric and foundation of our local community. A talented linguist fluent in English, French, Spanish, Italian and German, she initially planned to join the foreign service. However, after marriage, her life took a different path.

Dinnie’s great great-grandfather, Thomas McCormick, founded McCormick’s (a local biscuit factory and the McCormick Home). Her father, George Arthur (Art) Brickenden (BA’1918) was a judge who represented Canada at the Privy Council in London, England, and her mother Catharine (Kizzie) was instrumental to the development of local community theatre. She established the foundation of the London Little Theatre in 1922, which eventually became The Grand Theatre. In 2002, Chris Doty (local journalist, historian, author and playwright) and Jeff Culbert (actor and director) honoured Catharine’s contributions by developing the Brickenden Award for Theatrical Excellence.

As a family the Brickendens were avid horsemen and women - training, riding and breeding horses from Brickenden Stables with great success since the 1920s. As a competitor, judge and breeder, Dinnie’s expertise and skill was recognized throughout the field and her horses have represented Canada internationally in the Olympics and the Pan Am Games. In a 2016 CBC interview she told the story of being at the 1936 Berlin Olympics while still a schoolgirl in England. She was invited to join the French Jumping Team’s entourage by Pierre Clave, Chef d’equipe of the team, who was a family friend.

Dinnie’s connections to Western started early. Her father played on the football team and was also a decorated sprinter, winning five gold medals. Sent to boarding school in England at 12 years old, Dinnie returned to Canada when Germany invaded Alsace Loraine during the Second World War. As a student at Central High School and subsequently at Western, Dinnie took every opportunity to compete in track, basketball and field hockey. She played on Western’s fledgling women's hockey team in 1938 and often told the tale of turning up for tennis tryouts with her wood-framed catgut racquet, inscribed ‘to Dinnie from Fred Perry.’ Fred was the last British men’s champion at Wimbledon (1934, 1935 and 1936) until Andy Murray won in 2013.

While Dinnie’s athletic abilities and enthusiasm were eclectic, her dedication to the equestrian field was lifelong. In 1948 she founded the London Pony Club and represented Canada in Tripartite international competition with the United States and Mexico. In 1949 she was the first winner of the President of Mexico Trophy at the Toronto Winter Fair Jumping Competition. Subsequently, Dinnie represented Canada at many international competitions as both a competitor and judge. Her skills were recognized throughout the equestrian community and she was honoured as a lifetime governor of the Toronto Winter Fair and an honorary director of the Western Fair in London. Jim Elder, 1968 Olympic gold medallist recognized Brickenden Stables as “one of the foundation families, if not the foundation family of the horse show world.”

At Western, we are grateful that Dinnie was a founding member of our Women’s Athletic Alumnae organization in 1987 and served as President from 1994-96. Under her leadership, the organization’s official award was designed by the sculptor Elizabeth Bradford Holbrook.

Predeceased by her husbands W.H. Hall-Holland, O.M. Fuller and Robert Greenway, Dinnie is survived by a loving, large extended family including children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and great great-grandchildren!