On December 7, 1951 a baby girl was born to the delight of two older brothers and five older sisters who wanted to have a doll to play with. She was named Vinnette Marie Virgo by combining the names of her parents, Vincent and Linette Virgo. Five years later the Virgo family moved from Jamaica to Canada, where her father was born and settled in Montreal.
Growing up in a West Indian family, she was taught the essentials of life and a most important fact, "don't ever tell your mother that you are bored". The few times that she did she was taught to sew, embroidery knit and crochet. Marie remembers watching television programs with her father, knowing that she would have to answer questions about the program afterward; she learnt how to care for flowers and vegetables by working in the garden with her parents. She became an avid reader when her mother made a point of taking her to the library on a regular basis. She was an active member of the Unity Boys and Girls Club on Greene Avenue where she was a member of the St. John's Ambulance. Marie came to realize that education was very important to her parents and schoolwork was serious business in the Virgo household. Her father's mot was "no one can take education away from you even if they want to".
Marie was also an avid sports enthusiast, not only was she was on the high school track team but she also played baseball, basketball and volleyball in the summer and skated all winter long. The family attended Calvin United Church on a regular basis. Excuses were not tolerated which was a good thing as Marie became a Sunday school teacher, president of the Church Youth Group and regularly participated in the church services.
At the age of thirteen Marie moved from Westmount to St. Hubert on the south shore. She was very upset about the move until she met the boy that lived down the street, Ricky Berryman. A few years later they were married at Union United Church.
Marie and Ricky wanted a family and were delighted when Natalie, Jeremy and Charleen were born! They were God's gifts to them. Marie stayed home to take care of the children while Ricky worked at Via Rail until Mrs. Elie Tabb, Ricky's mother, offered to take care of all the children in the family, which totaled 8 cousins.
In 1978, Marie decided to go back to work and found a job with Concordia University. She started her career as an administrative assistant to the associate dean of students in the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science where she counseled and oversaw the educational needs of all 2,000 undergraduate students in the faculty. After1 many years she was promoted to the post of international program officer in the Centre for international Academic Cooperation. In this position she traveled to many countries around the globe meeting heads of government and principles of universities to promote large-scale projects for the University. Three years ago Marie left that job and was promoted to the post of Assistant University Ombudsperson where she helps students in conflict, investigates complaints and recommend solutions.
All was fine in the Berryman household until Charleen was old enough for Marie to register for courses at Concordia University. With Ricky's blessing and some cooking lesson, Marie completed a Certificate in Family Life Education, a Bachelor's degree in Applied Social Science with a minor in Psychology and is planning to complete a Masters Degree in Educational Studies of Adults in September. She completed all her university training on a part-time basis. Ricky is now a chef.
Her work and educational involvement hasn't been enough to keep Marie fully occupied. She:
Founded the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science Status of Women Committee;
Delivered the keynote address at a symposium untitled: Excellency and Equality in the Engineering Profession at Concordia's University;
Appeared in two Gazette articles as the Mature Student Representative for Concordia University;
In 1995 Marie received the "Outstanding Student" award from Concordia University;
She appears in Concordia's promotional video titled Real Education for the Real World;
She has co-authored a book titled Democracy, the Environment and Human Rights in the Developing World: the New Internationalism and a number of academic papers on the subject of women and internationalism that were published
Marie has also presented workshops at conferences across Canada, the United States, Asia and the Middle East;
At Union Church, Marie has facilitated a number of seminars as a Family Life Educator for a few committees, served as a Sunday school helper for many years and is currently chairing the Rev. Dr. Charles Est. Scholarship Committee.
Marie tells me that her family is her life! She has been happily married to Ricky for many years and she won't have it any other way! Marie hopes her educational pursuits have been an inspiration to her children. Natalie has completed training as a Nurses Aid and has blessed the couple with two grandchildren, Cory and Kayla. Jeremy has completed two years in the Economics program at Concordia University and has just signed a contract with Warner Brothers to write music. Charleen has just completed her first year in Religion at Concordia University and hopes to become a professor of Religion. Her favorite past time is cooking. So far ail is well.
Marie and Ricky both believe that God has surely blessed them.
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