Edith Marion DeBlois (1920-2000) was a native Canadian with an interest in foreign travel and a season pass to the international exposition, Expo 67.

She was born, Edith Marion Gladney, in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1920, the daughter of native Canadian Eva Elizabeth Powis (1896-1966) and Englishman Reginald Gladney (1896-1965). She called herself “Babs” as a child, which she modified to “Babbie” in later life. Her parents divorced when in 1933, and her mother later married A. E. D. Tremain (1892-1962) of Montreal.

At the age of nineteen she visited the New York World’s Fair. The outbreak of World War II a few months later caused her parents to abandon plans to send her to finishing school in Switzerland, so she took a nursing course and spent most of the war working in a munitions factory as an inspector.

In 1945 she married Howard Crawford DeBlois (1920-1948), a wounded veteran of the Royal Engineers and moved to the industrial city of Shawinigan, about 100 miles from Montreal. Howard DeBlois died in 1948, and Edith DeBlois and their daughter remained in Shawinigan after his death.

Edith DeBlois took great interest in Expo 67 from the moment it was announced that Montreal would host a World’s Fair. For her, it seemed an opportunity to experience the cultures of foreign countries that had been denied her by the war. She purchased a season pass and moved in with a friend in Montreal, and her daughter, who was then at McGill University, would meet her at the fair for concerts. She attended the fair almost daily. The fair rekindled DeBlois’s interest in foreign travel, and thereafter she made frequent trips using economical package tours.

World's Fairs or International Expositions are large-scale exhibitions that highlight technology, agriculture and other innovations of national or cultural significance. These fairs are open to the general public and can run for three weeks to six months.

Expo 67 was an international exposition that took place in Montréal, Québec from April 27 to October 29, 1967 to celebrate Canada's centennial. Nearly 55 million people visited Expo 67, it was the most attended World's Fair to that date. The theme was "Man and his World." Sixty-two nations participated. Canadian diplomat, Pierre Dupuy (1896–1969) was the Commissioner General of Expo 67.

There were ninety pavilions. Featured was a geodesic dome designed by American architect, Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) and Habitat 67 modular housing complex designed by Israeli-Canadian architect, Moshe Safdie (1938-), which was later purchased by private individuals and is still occupied.

During the summer months of 1968 and 1984, many of the buildings continued to be open for exhibit.