Lydia Emelie Gruchy

Lydia Emelie Gruchy (September 5, 1894 – April 9, 1992) was a French-born Canadian who became the first woman ordained to the ministry of the United Church of Canada. She was the first woman to enroll in theological studies, to graduate from a Presbyterian theological college and also the first woman to be granted an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree in Canada.

Early life Lydia Emelie Gruchy was born on 5 September 1894 in Asnières-sur-Seine, Paris, France to Mary Ann (née Hicks) and Charles Herbert de Gruchy from the Island of Jersey, in the Channel Islands. She grew up in France and England, and in 1913, immigrated with her family to Strasbourg, Saskatchewan.

Career She began teaching in schools around Strasbourg and attended Nutana Collegiate, which at the time housed the Saskatoon Normal School, earning her teaching certificate. and graduated with honors in 1920 with her bachelor's degree. Gruchy returned to ministering in 1943 serving at small churches throughout Saskatchewan for the next twenty years. In 1953, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from her alma mater, which was then called St. Andrew’s Theological College and a part of the University of Saskatchewan. When the degree was bestowed, she became the first woman in Canada to be so honored. She retired in 1962 and relocated to White Rock, British Columbia.

Gruchy died on April 9, 1992, at White Rock.