For Dr. Willa Henry, each stage of life has been guided by a simple question: what can I learn next, and where can I be most useful? Her career began in nursing at Queen’s University, followed by four years of practice, before she moved to British Columbia and was accepted to medical school at McMaster. After graduating, she returned to BC for postgraduate training in Family Medicine. In 1985 she married a fellow physician she had met at medical school -returning to Hamilton where she spent 16 years in family practice and academic teaching roles. Over time she held academic positions at Queens, the University of British Columbia, and McMaster, teaching and mentoring learners in family medicine.
An international move reshaped both her family and her outlook. When her husband John Morse more was offered a senior role in Abu Dhabi, they moved there with their three teenage daughters. “We took them reluctantly and brought them back more reluctantly!” she recalls, but the experience proved pivotal. The girls now describe it as one of the most meaningful events in their lives, opening up a truly global perspective and friendships across cultures and faiths. One daughter has spent many years in Zambia working in public health, another lives in London, and a third daughter is in New York. Willa and John now travel constantly to see daughters and grandchildren in New York, London, and Zambia.
After returning to Kingston in 2004, Willa joined Reddendale Family Health and soon after was recruited to Queen’s, where she became Program Director of the family medicine teaching program. It was, as she puts it, “a very substantial role,” which began in the same September that all three daughters left home, a timing she views as an unexpectedly effective way to navigate the empty nest. She also became a strong advocate for team-based primary care, drawing on her experience in family health teams with psychiatrists, social workers, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists. In her view, family medicine is “one of the most demanding roles in medicine” and requires robust support.
Retirement from clinical and academic work opened the door to a new chapter. Concerned about how to use her skills in a different way, Willa returned to school to become an executive coach and now works part time coaching physicians, including through the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC. The training, she notes, “helped me become a much better listener and much more aware of my own biases and reinforced the importance of a non-judgmental stance.” She has carried those insights directly into her volunteer leadership, including her work on the with the Community Foundation.
Willa’s connection to the Community Foundation began through John, who served on the Board and created a fund focused on heritage preservation. When they returned from six years in BC and he had stepped back from formal roles, she approached the Foundation herself. She currently chairs the Community Grants Committee, joined the Board, and also serves on the Grants, Strategy and Impacts Committee. Willa started her own endowed fund that focuses on mental health for adolescents and young adults, shaped by years in family practice. She has seen how vulnerable the ages 16 to 22 can be, particularly for young people without the means to pay for mental health support and who face long waits for care.
The endowment model resonates strongly with her. “I give as much as I can because I do not see it as money that disappears,” she explains. “It remains there. It will continue to do good, and the more that is contributed, the more it can support.” This philosophy reflects what she witnessed growing up: a mother deeply involved with supporting hospitals and a camp for children, and a father engaged in community fund raising. “We have been very fortunate,” she says. “With that comes a responsibility to find meaningful ways to give back and to ensure that what you give is put to good use.”
