Marguerite (Grete) Hale was born in Ottawa in 1929, the daughter of Cecil Morrison, Ottawa's "Happy Baker" and his wife Margaret. Having attended Glebe Collegiate in Ottawa, she graduated from Carleton University in 1954 with a degree in journalism. However, her greatest interest (as was her family's) lay in the food industry and in catering, in which she gained some ten year's experience in England, France, Scandinavia, Switzerland and the US. During this time she became associated with the Moral Rearmament movement, the successor to the Oxford Group.

In 1957, Grete married Reginald "Reg" Hale, a fellow-member of Moral Rearmament, and for several years lived "out of a suitcase" as she followed Reg. around the world, visiting the various MRA "embassies" in different countries. However in 1961, Reg. was forced by war disabilities to retire from his active job as a journalist, and the couple moved to Ottawa, her home city.

A few years later, in 1966, Grete joined her father's firm, Morrison Lamothe, which had started as an Ottawa bakery, but later expanded to become a major player in the world of processed and frozen foods. Starting in the administration of the company, she became Executive V-P in 1972, President in 1978 and Board Chairman in 1989. She remains today as Chairman Emeritus. As a result of her training in the food industry and as a trained chef, Grete was responsible in 1967 for catering for 40,000 people at Canada's 100th birthday party on Parliament Hill and for the 20-foot cake that was cut by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.

In addition to her work, Grete was able in the early '70's to resume her travels with her husband, as he journeyed to Ireland and Scotland to do research on his books on the sixth-century Irish Saints Columba and Mungo. However, it was in Ottawa that she mostly made her mark. The list of her memberships in, and outstanding work for, charitable and community organizations runs to a full page-and-a-half. A very short sample includes:

• Governor, University of Ottawa;
• Senator, Order of St. Lazarus;
• President, Beechwood National Cemetery;
• Hon. Lieutenant Colonel, 78th Fraser Highlanders, Glengarry Garrison;
• Vice President, Ottawa Council of Women;
• Founding President, Friends of the National Library of Canada
• Chair, Community Foundation of Ottawa;
• Vice-Chair, Canada World Youth;
• Secretary, National Council of Women

In addition to her community work, Grete has also been much associated with the Progressive Conservative Party, being involved with the 1977 Quebec City meeting and the 1984 Leadership convention, and becoming the first woman Director of PC Canada.

In 1978, Grete joined the Heraldry Society of Canada, of which her husband had been a member for some years. She soon became a Director and in 1987 was elected First Vice President. The following year, on the appointment of the current President, Robb Watt, as Chief Herald of Canada, she became the first woman to be made President of the Society. She was elected a Fellow of the Society in 1989.

Still very active in the nation's capital, Grete lives in Bayne House, the house her mother restored some 80 years ago and that is now regarded as Ottawa's oldest house.

Honours and awards

• 2009 Honorary Doctor of Laws, Carleton University
• 2006 Member of the Order of Canada
• 2003 Scouts Canada Foundation National Salute Award
• 2002 Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal
• 2001 Ottawa Community Builder of the Year Award
• 2000 Ottawa Mayor's Award for Community Service
• 1999 Honorary Doctorate, University of Ottawa
• 1998 Canadian Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award – Lifetime Achievement Category
• 1997 YM-YWCA Woman of Distinction – Lifetime Achievement Award, Ottawa-Carleton Philanthropy Award, Ottawa-Carleton Business Woman of the Year Award
• 1992 125th Confederation Meda
• 1989 Fellow of the (Royal) Heraldry Society of Canada