1901 - 1970
Born in 1901 in Huron County, Margaret Strang was the third woman to graduate from the University of Western Ontario with a degree in medicine in 1929. She was the only female to graduate from the university that year.
She completed her internship at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario. Upon collecting her degree Dr. Strang moved to Dixonville, Alberta to set up her medical practice. She was the only doctor in the area and in her own words she could travel as far as she liked in any direction and encounter no other doctors to compete with. She traveled an area of approximately 600 miles by horse so that she may visit and care for her patients.
She also used her medical knowledge as well as her own farming background from childhood to occasionally fill in as the area’s veterinarian. In fact, she stocked her own practice with several veterinary supplies as they were difficult to find in the district.
In addition to her medical work Dr. Strang also served as minister for the Dixonville population, initially leading her services in a schoolhouse until the Strang Presbyterian Church, which is now one of the oldest rural churches in Canada, was built for the community. Dr. Strang continued her duties as minister until 1933 when she married Douglas Savage and split her time between her children and her medical practice. Dr. Strang Savage remained devoted to her practice until her death in 1970.
Dr. Strang Savage’s impressive skills have been recognized in many ways, including being written as one of 200 Remarkable Alberta Women by Kay Sanderson. In 1965 she received an honorary doctorate of laws degree from University of Western Ontario. Most significantly in 2005 she was named one of the top 100 Physicians of the Century by a group of physicians celebrating a hundred years of medical practice in Alberta. She is also honored as the namesake of the Dr. Margaret Strang Savage Crisis Center.