Macdonald Campus harvests the fruits of alumni generosity

The University is gratefully reaping the fruit of seeds sown by Marc Bieler, DipAgr’58, BA’64. In 2009, the man behind the biggest cranberry farm in the world donated $1 million to create the Bieler Family Internship Fund which supports food sciences students in the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Known as Canada’s “Cranberry King,” Bieler is President of Canneberges Atoka Cranberries Inc., the biggest independent cranberry processor in Canada, and Bieler Cranberries Inc., the largest single-site cranberry farm in the world, located in Manseau, Quebec.

“McGill is an important institution – important to me and my family, to the Quebec community and the larger world,” says Bieler. “And the Macdonald Campus is where I started my formal education and developed my passion for agriculture. I wanted to give something back to help students gain practical experience and figure out what they want to do in life.”

A loyal annual donor since 1964, Bieler has strong ties to McGill with at least eight family members who are or were McGill staff or alumni, dating back to his father who graduated with a BA in 1913 and a BCL in 1919.

Mary Catherine (Kitty) Freeman, BHS’41, is remembered as a generous, lifelong friend to the Macdonald Campus. Her legacy lives on with her $1-million endowment to Mac’s new Nutrition and Food Science teaching labs.

Freeman joined the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps in 1942 as one of the first dietitians on staff, attending to sick and wounded soldiers. For Freeman, nutrition was the most important concern for soldiers returning to the front. She continued to pioneer the field of nutrition, working at the Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue Veterans’ Hospital until her retirement in 1978.

A loyal donor to McGill since 1949, Freeman also supported many charities in the Montreal area. She passed away in March 2009, leaving behind many loving friends and family members.