Elizabeth “Buffy” (Evans) Meredith ’49 and Beatrice “Bea” Wylie Riddell ’49
Trinity grads Buffy Meredith and Bea Riddell were best friends for 78 years. From high school to Trinity, through family and career, they give new meaning to the term best friends forever.
by the family of Buffy Meredith
Bea and Buffy met at Havergal in grade nine in 1941. Buffy always remembered the day she met Bea—finding her confident and popular, she soon found her to be kind as well. When Buffy’s mother died within the first few weeks of school, Bea invited her new friend to dinner. “It was such a nice thing to do,” Buffy remembered in 2005.
From there, the friendship flourished. Neither could have imagined they would still be sharing meals nearly nine decades later.
After high school, both girls came to Trinity where they continued to be close.
After their graduation in 1949, Buffy married fellow Trinity graduate Edmund Meredith ’48, with whom she had six children in eight years. In her spare time, Buffy dedicated herself to volunteering as a docent at the Royal Ontario Museum and was later recognized for 55 years of service.
Bea found success working first as a secretary, and later as a reporter for the Financial Post. At the time, a woman working in journalism was rare to say the least. “For a woman in those days to be taken seriously was difficult,” Bea recalled.
Nevertheless she persisted, became an expert in taxation issues, and was eventually promoted to editor.
With everything going on in their lives, they found time to see each other, and often spoke on the phone two or three times a day. With other university friends, they were keen longtime participants in UofT’s Later Life Learning programs.
Bea was godmother to two of Buffy’s daughters and was part of the Meredith family. For Buffy’s six children and 16 grandchildren, family occasions were not complete without Bea.
When asked the secret to their long friendship, they cited supporting each other through various stages in life and the luck of meeting when they did.
After all those decades, Bea and Buffy spent their last two years living in the Claremont Retirement Residence in Toronto. As lifelong friends, they usually ate meals together, hosted guests together and met for drinks before dinner. In the nice weather Bea even accompanied Buffy for her smoke outside.
Beatrice Wylie Riddell died on May 27, 2017.
Not long after, Elizabeth “Buffy” (Evans) Meredith died on November 18, 2017.
Truly best friends forever.
Do you have a best friend from your days at Trinity? Send us your story and celebrate your BFFs. magazine@trinity.utoronto.ca
Spring 2019
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