Remembering Fish Hoek mayor Euphemia Paris
Euphemia Paris became the first and only woman to be elected as mayor of Fish Hoek in 1960.
She served from 1960 to 1961 and, when elected, she had already served on the municipal council for 10 years and had a long record of public service, according to an undated article in the Fish Hoek Echo.
According to the article, she moved to Fish Hoek after she got married and was involved in welfare organisations such as the Red Cross, the Fish Hoek Women’s Association, the girl guides, and boy scouts.
Ms Paris took courses in psychology at UCT and trained as a teacher. She worked at the Claremont Public School where she met her husband, Paul Paris, who was the principal.
After they married, Mr Paris was appointed as the principal of Kalk Bay School and the couple moved to Fish Hoek.
They had three children Joy, Kevin and Mignon, and eight grandchildren.
Mr Paris retired from the Kalk Bay School after 25 years of service.
Ms Paris gave up teaching after she married, but during World War II, after taking courses at Voortrekkerhoogte Military Hospital, she served as a Red Cross Hospital volunteer at the Thalassa and Seahurst convalescent homes on the False Bay Coast.
She was a founding member of the Fish Hoek Women’s Association, the local Red Cross and Fish Hoek’s blood-transfusion service; a member of the False Bay Hospital Board, the Fish Hoek Noordhoek Civic Association and the Fish Hoek High School and Fish Hoek Sea Scout committees; a secretary of the Fish Hoek District Nursing Association; and a supporter of the Defenders of Fish Hoek and the ratepayers’ association.
She received the South Africa War Medal for escorting English evacuees to Durban during the war and was instrumental in establishing False Bay Hospital.
Paris Road, just below False Bay Hospital, was named after her.
She died on Monday July 16, 1962, according to an article in the Cape Argus.
According to her granddaughter, Rosalind Raubenheimer, her grandmother lived in the flats across the road from Fish Hoek Beach; then in The Promenade, a gabled house above Jager's Walk; and then in a Fish Hoek house known as Tembani during her time as mayor.
She said her grandmother had been involved in many charities including as chairwoman of the Fish Hoek branch of the Clothing Guild, and she had helped to start a crèche for the children of Fish Hoek's domestic workers.
Ms Paris was also involved with the Cape Peninsula School Feeding Scheme and officially opened the Fish Hoek civic centre.
“There is a plaque above the door of the main hall, dedicated to her, and I remember, as a very young child, reciting poetry at her mayoral tea parties in the minor hall of the civic centre,” said Ms Raubenheimer.
“She was the mayor of Fish Hoek who introduced afternoon tea parties to replace evening drinks parties, as she supported a dry Fish Hoek.”
A bench and a clock at False Bay Hospital also each carry a plaque dedicated to her memory and service to the community.
“Paul and Euphemia Paris will be remembered for having made a significant contribution to Fish Hoek, which was, in those days, a town with its own town council and mayor. And as a town in its own right, it had suburbs, which were under the control of the Fish Hoek municipality.These were Clovelly, Sunny Cove, Glencairn, Kommetjie, and Noordhoek,” said Ms Raubenheimer.
