Committee member

Who do you represent on the Coalition Steering Committee? Our names are David & Michelle Fagan, and we are half of the founding members of the St. Mary’s Battery Restoration Committee.

Tell us about yourself. David was born and went to school in St. John’s, however, every weekend and during summer holidays, his parents would take him and his 3 sisters to St. Mary’s, where his parents are from. If you ask him, he will say “I resided in “town”, but I lived in St. Mary’s”. He often refers himself as “The Bay-City Roller”. In his “downtime”, he played ball hockey and volunteered within the towns of St. Johns and St. Mary’s. He spent 10 years volunteering with “Kids in Safe Seats” (KISS) as a technician and Instructor to help ensure children being properly secured in their car seats. He also served as an Auxiliary Constable with the RCMP for 10 years.

Michelle on the other hand grew up on Bell Island “around the bay” and couldn’t wait to get to “the big city”. She graduated at the local District Vocational School on Bell Island with a Stenographer’s certificate in hand, waved goodbye to family and headed off to make her mark on the world. She loved to volunteer with church groups, social clubs and later school committees. She also volunteered with KISS and other community committees.

David and Michelle met, through a mutual friend, got married and have two children Brian and Liz, their pride & joy.

Tell us about your work. David spent 38 1/2 years with Eastern Health as an Adaptive Seating technician at the Janeway Children’s Rehabilitation Center in St. John’s, designing and fabricating custom mobility devices for children and young adults.

Michelle was fortunate enough to get an “on the job training” assignment with the Federal government and while there, she applied for and got a typing clerk position with the RCMP Records department. She stayed in the same department during her 38 ½ years there, but her job evolved many times; by the time she retired, she was Information Manager of the Records Department, now called Information Management. She absolutely loved it and misses it to this day.

What are you involved with in your community? Both David and Michelle retired in 2016 and moved to St. Mary’s where they became involved with the St. Mary’s Battery Restoration Committee, in restoring an 18th Century 4 cannon Battery Park.  They are highly engaged in promoting the great history of St. Mary’s.  In 2022, they joined the Irish Loop Tourism Work Group and Michelle was just named as part of their Steering Committee. They are having a positive impact in promoting not only the history of the area but Tourism as a whole. 

What are the benefits of being involved with the ERWC? They both firmly believe in the Eastern Regional Wellness Coalition’s goals and pledge to work towards increasing its promotion and impact in the St. Mary’s Bay and surrounding areas.