Muriel Overgaard
Muriel Agnes Overgaard nee Heal (1920 – ) was born in Elbow, Saskatchewan. She later moved to Moose Jaw where she worked a number of clerical jobs before relocating to Victoria in 1947. She worked for a while at The Bay and managed the mail order department at Eaton’s before beginning to work for the school board part-time, as the hours facilitated working mothers. She became administrative secretary of Cedar Hill Secondary School. In 1965, the school board workers organized into C.U.P.E. She ran for the Local Executive and won, serving for eight years as Local President. She subsequently became the first female President of the B.C. Division of C.U.P.E. (from 1976-1980), and national Vice-President. Overgaard helped establish C.U.P.E.’s first Women’s Committee and municipal pension plans. She was a member of the Victoria Status of Women and the National Association of Women and the Law.