Remembering Ruth Foster, teacher

Ruth Foster’s philosophy is stenciled in large letter inside Mossom Creek Hatchery: You Only Care About What You Know About.

“The more you know about a watershed and the creatures that live in it . . . the more you’re going to care about it,” she once said.

For more than a half-century, Foster used her considerable intellect and energy to help her students – and it was hard not to be one of her students – know and care.

Foster died on Sept. 28 following a brief illness.

Teaching at Centennial Secondary in the 1970s, Foster found she had a lot in common with fellow biology teacher Rod MacVicar.

“Both wanted to teach more outside than in,” she said.

With students in tow, the teachers headed to Mossom Creek to see if they could coax salmon back to the barren stream.

What followed was 50 years of stewardship, reversals, and resilience.

There was the time construction waste fouled the stream. There were storms, contaminated soil that had to be remediated, and a fight over a sprawling development proposal that eventually became Bert Flinn Park.

Through it all, the work has been aided by former students and volunteers guided and inspired by Foster and MacVicar.

“Together, we have continued to follow our former students and cheer for them as they take on meaningful careers and volunteer positions in the community,” she said.

Those former students come back to Mossom, sometimes bringing their children and grandchildren to work parties or Sunday open houses.

On some days, you might have spotted Foster ambling along Ioco Road pulling out invasive species or walking the creek and pointing out the bleeding heart, bunchberry, and Siberian miner’s lettuce, all of which are “exactly native to this watershed,” she said proudly.

However, Foster and MacVicar might not have completely realized what they had until it was nearly lost.

On Dec. 11, 2013, a fire broke out at the hatchery.

“It quickly became a fire so intense that it was visible from the Port Mann Bridge,” Foster recalled.

The first fire truck up the hill slipped on the ice and wound up sideways at the gate, effectively blocking other emergency vehicles.

More than three decades of work were wiped out. The old Mossom sign, battered and charred, is all that remained after the blaze.

But the community rallied immediately. Port Moody stickhandled donations to help Mossom raise money for the rebuild.

“We were astonished at how the community wrapped its arms around us,” Foster said. “It made us realize that our project was valued, and that it was about much more than fish. It was about people.”

The Mossom Creek Hatchery and Education Centre opened in 2015.

Foster’s death is a huge loss for everyone at Mossom, wrote Burrard Inlet Marine Enhancement Society president Kevin Ryan in a message to the Dispatch.

“What eases my pain somewhat is the love and support I’m seeing in our community. People are leaning and taking care of each other,” Ryan wrote.

Foster had an ability to make complete strangers feel welcomed at home.

“Ten years ago I recall visiting Mossom for the first time, her warm smile and enthusiasm. I felt like I belonged here,” Ryan wrote.

A longtime educator, Foster’s ability to teach was instinctive, Ryan added, noting how many volunteers pursued careers in environmental sciences because of what they learned at Mossom.

“She also provided hundreds of letters of recommendation to advance the careers for all these young students,” Ryan wrote. “We have several young educators at Mossom who are very sad about her passing. She left us too early we had so much more to learn from Ruth.”

An obituary posted by Mossom Creek remembered Foster’s care and guidance.

“Ruth taught us that the creek needs people who will show up, year after year,” the post stated. “The best way for us to honour her is to keep doing this.”

Following the news of Foster’s death, many shared tributes to their former friend and teacher, with the Pacific Streamkeepers Federation calling her a “stewardship hero.”

“She taught generations of young people to care for our environment, for our community, and for something bigger than ourselves,” wrote Adel Gamar.

Over the years, many came to know about Foster. And so they care.