Glenn Niemi’s Story

Very little has been “usual” in Glenn Niemi’s life.  Including his journey to becoming a Regional Easter Seals Ambassador (or “Timmy”) in 1968.

Glenn grew up in Northwestern Ontario. He lived with his family, which included his mother, father, and younger brother Mark, in Port Arthur (now part of Thunder Bay). Shortly after he was born, it was discovered that Glenn had a congenital physical disability, “I had a bad limp, a leg discrepancy of about two and a half centimeters,” Glenn explains.

Although the condition caused Glenn a great deal of pain throughout his life, he was never one to complain. “When I went to the [Northwestern Ontario] Crippled Children’s Centre, I saw children who couldn’t walk at all,” says Glenn. Glenn was a tough kid from the North, but these visits helped to develop his capacity for compassion and empathy and would eventually play a significant role in influencing his choice of career.  

“Some of my Finnish relatives said I had ‘sisu’ which roughly translated means, ‘Courage in the face of adversity.'”

Long before Glenn was ever contemplating a career path, however, his time at the Crippled Children’s Centre impacted is life in another major way.  In the mid-1960s, Glenn underwent a salter osteotomy, a surgery to help correct his hip socket. The procedure was performed locally by Dr. Evans, “He said I handled it very well,” Glenn recounts, “He told me that I was very brave and he gave me a silver dollar that I put under my pillow. Some of my Finnish relatives said I had ‘sisu’ which roughly translated means, ‘Courage in the face of adversity.’”

It was Dr. Evans, Glenn believes, who submitted his name to be a Regional Ambassador for Easter Seals Ontario (then known as the Ontario Society for Crippled Children). While this would have been standard practice at the time, what made Glenn’s nomination unusual is that Dr. Evans, or whoever the nominator was, neglected to inform Glenn or his family!

“We received a letter out of the blue that indicated that I had been selected as one of many ‘Timmys,’” Glenn says. His family had no idea that he had been nominated for the position, and they were unfamiliar with the program or what the role would entail. “We thought I was going to be in a room with many ‘Timmys’ from our area, but I showed up to find out that I was the only local Timmy and that I had to give a speech and meet the Mayor,” continues Glenn. 

While Glenn’s Regional Ambassadorship started off with a few surprises, it helped him to realize that he could think on his feet. “I made it through [the speech] somehow and got into the paper,” Glenn says, “After that, I had to go to a local TV station called CKPR, and Gordie Tapp was there doing an interview at the same time!”

After wrapping up his TV interview, Glenn returned to school the following day to find out that his teacher had played the segment for the entire class! “I walked in and everyone started clapping, and I thought ‘now what have I done?’” Glenn recounts while chuckling.

Despite the news of his Regional Ambassadorship being broadcast on local TV, there was not much else said about it after the initial announcement. And Glenn was fine with that. “When I was young, I was very shy… I didn’t talk to anyone,” Glenn says, “I wanted to fit in. I didn’t want being disabled to be my whole identity.”

Although Glenn didn’t speak of his Ambassadorship or time at the Crippled Children’s Centre openly, both experiences continued to impact his life. “[My time at the Centre] and the Timmy experience really steered me into to social work. Because I knew I wanted to help people.”

When the time came to apply for university, Glenn refused any scholarships for youth with disabilities, “I was stubborn and I said ‘no, I’ll make my own way’ and I learned to be a drummer and I paid for my own college by drumming and taking other jobs.” He made it through school and achieved his goal, launching a 31 year career, initially as a social worker for 9 years and then progressing to supervisory positions in community support programs such as Meals on Wheels with the city of Thunder Bay.

“One doctor said ‘you must have a really high tolerance for pain, because you shouldn’t actually be able to walk,’” Glenn recounts, “and I said ‘I just go ahead and do it. The mind takes over.’”

Glenn’s abundance of grit and determination not only helped get him through his schooling and career, but it shaped the everyday experiences of his life. “One doctor said ‘you must have a really high tolerance for pain, because you shouldn’t actually be able to walk,’” Glenn recounts, “and I said ‘I just go ahead and do it. The mind takes over.’”

Although Glenn’s limp was noticeable, he rarely spoke about his disability, pain, or experiences. It wasn’t until his younger brother Mark had a story published about Glenn and his experience as a Regional Ambassador, in 2002, that Glenn began to reconsider his perspective on his own disability.

Mark worked for Flanagan Food Service, a company whose charity of choice was Easter Seals Ontario. Recognizing the organization from his brother’s time as a Regional Ambassador, Mark wrote a piece for the company’s newsletter where he shared his admiration for his brother regarding his role as a Regional Ambassador and his experiences as a kid growing up with a physical disability. “I never knew he admired me for that,” Glenn explains, “I was kind of shocked.”

While Glenn had put his time at the Crippled Children’s Centre and as an Ambassador to the back of his mind for most of his adult life, his brother’s story had shone a new light on his experiences. Glenn began searching for any archived news items that would help him recall more details about his Ambassadorship, and eventually hired a researcher to help him track the desired information down.

After all of this time, Glenn still maintains his compassion and empathy for others, thinking of how he can help younger generations with his lived experiences and wisdom. With that in mind, Glenn shared with us his advice for Easter Seals kids who might be struggling with some of the same issues he did: “Be yourself. There will always be someone against you, but most people are pretty good. And if you use humour, you can break a lot of tension and a lot of barriers. And music too. I took a lot of frustration out on my drums … it was good therapy!”  

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Thank you, Glenn, for taking the time to share your experience and wisdom with us.

We are continuing to collect and share Easter Seals stories as part of our centennial year celebrations.

Learn more about our centennial at: easterseals.org/about-us/100-years.