Maryon Pearson

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Maryon Elspeth Pearson (born 1901 in Winnipeg, Manitoba; died December 26, 1989 in Toronto, Ontario) was the wife of Lester Bowles Pearson, the 14th Prime Minister of Canada.

Born Maryon Elspeth Moody, she married Lester Pearson on August 22, 1925. They met at the University of Toronto, where he was a teacher and she was a student.

They had one son, Geoffrey, and one daughter, Patricia. Geoffrey is married to Canadian Senator Landon Pearson. National Post journalist Patricia Pearson is the daughter of Geoffrey and Landon Pearson (not to be confused with her aunt, who did not maintain a public career.)

Maryon Pearson was also known for her sharp tongued wit. John English in his biography Shadow of Heaven: The Life of Lester Pearson devoted a full chapter to the subject of Mrs. Pearson's prickly personality. Among her most famous quotations:

• "Behind every successful man, there stands a surprised woman."

• [On the retired former prime minister's greater time at home]: "I married him for better or worse. I didn't marry him for lunch."

• [On being asked during an election campaign by a reporter, "Is there anything you'd like to bring up, Mrs. Pearson?"] "Yes, three doughnuts and six cups of coffee."

• "We lost everything. We even won our own constituency."

• "The big problem is to find suitable hats. I don't care for them all that much, but you have to wear them in politics."

See also: Spouses of the Prime Ministers of Canada.

[edit] References

English, John. Shadow of Heaven: The Life of Lester Pearson. Toronto: Lester & Orpen Dennys, 1989. ISBN 0-88619-169-6

Preceded by Olive Freeman Diefenbaker

Spouse of the Prime Minister of Canada 1963-1968

Succeeded by Margaret Sinclair Trudeau