2019 OHEA Founder's Award Recipient - Maria Depenweiller, P.H.Ec.

The 2018-2019 Founder's award was presented by Dr. June Matthews, PhD, RD, P.H.Ec., to Maria Depenweiller, P.H.Ec. on March 23, 2019. Congratulations Maria! We are P.H.Ec. proud of you. 

The following  speech was read by June at the annual OHEA conference. 

The Founder’s Award is given to a Professional Home Economist who has made sustained and outstanding contributions to the profession in the broader communities in which he/she practices.

This is certainly the case for this year’s recipient! A young Professional Home Economist, she, too, has dedicated hundreds of hours to OHEA, and previously to her local Home Economics branch. This is a significant accomplishment given that she has many other personal and professional commitments.

Over the past year, she worked diligently in her role on our Board of Directors. She carefully and thoughtfully made suggested revisions to some of our bylaws, always keeping her focus on the future viability and sustainability of our Association.

Since her graduation from Ryerson’s Food and Nutrition program, this young woman has worked on recipe testing and recipe development for a variety of Canadian and international food companies, and now runs her own consulting business.

She has organized workshops and cooking classes for community members. She is the author of several cookbooks … in two languages! … on food history, food traditions, and low-protein recipes for individuals with inherited diseases of protein metabolism.

​In addition to her many professional roles, she is also an award-winning gardener, who showed true kindness by sending me stunning photos of flowers in her garden when I was overwhelmed with work this past winter.

I am delighted to present this year’s Founder’s Award to Maria Depenweiller, Vice President Membership on our Board of Directors.

​Please join me in congratulating Maria.