Cora Ella Standing
Born: November 10th, 1926
Passed on: January 22nd, 2019
Cora Ella Standing, 92, passed away peacefully in her sleep and surrounded by family, on Tuesday, January 22, 2019. She was a proud resident at the Northside Community Guest Home.
Born on November 10, 1926 on Hunts Island, Burgeo, Newfoundland, Cora was the daughter of the late Walter and Jennie (Styles) MacDonald. Notorious for her phenomenal and often photographic memory, her days were spent in the cheer and company of beloved family, staff members and close friends. Cora was a great woman, Mother, Grandmother and Great-Grandmother (Super Nana).
After immigrating to Canada in 1942, she enjoyed a career as housekeeper for numerous families in North Sydney. She met and married our father, Ward, in 1946. She then became a devoted homemaker for her husband and three boys. This was a role that she took very seriously, ruling the roost and attending to their every need.
She was a Life Member of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 19, North Sydney; Honorary Member of the Daughters of Folton; and, Ladies Orange Benevolent Association of Canada; and, a Member of the L.T.B.A. (True Blues).
Cora loved to work with her hands, and was a gifted cook and baker, gaining a local fan base for her coveted Christmas fruit cakes and “How Much Rum” cake. She would spend hours reading her recipe books, like you and I would read novels, and she made feeding a table of twenty look easy.
Cora enjoyed entertaining company, but she especially looked forward to her visitors from Newfoundland, who dropped in “on the way through” for a cup of tea, but always left with a full belly. We cherish memories of her generous, pealing laugh, which filled the room and made everyone join in her laughter.
Although the human body can be unkind, Cora aged with dignity and grace,
and sought relief in humor. She ensured time each morning was set aside to play Salsa Bingo and for her chance to win that jackpot! She enjoyed attending the seniors’ day program in Sydney Mines, and there she earned the nickname “Badness.”
Cora loved to spend time with her family and her friends. Because her memory was so sharp, she was a riveting and convincing story teller, and became the keeper of family history, a well of information that was drawn from over the years by family and friends, near and far. Mom especially enjoyed sharing tales from her childhood in Newfoundland, but if someone mentioned the “good old days” she would scoff, “It was the school of hard knocks, and I wouldn't give up my electric stove, furnace, washer and dishwasher for those ‘good old days!’”
Cora was the last surviving member of her immediate family, a position she really didn't care for. She was preceded in death by her husband, Ward (1988); her caregiver and best friend, son, George (2015); her mother and father, Walter (1971) and Jennie (Styles) MacDonald (1987); brothers and sisters, Reginald (1991), Gordon (2005), Mary (1964), Keith (1935), Ida (1962), and Garland (1994).
Cora is survived by her sons, Bill (Jane), Bell River, PEI and Garland (Donna), North Sydney. She is also survived by her prides and joy, grandchildren, Donald (Vivian), PEI, Derek (Jamie), AB, Amanda, PEI, Kori (Christian) Brown, BC, Megan (Jordan) Macleod, Marion Bridge, Erin (Christopher) MacDonald, North Sydney. She was Super Nana to Ethan, Sophia, Alexandra, Racquel, Ceilidh, Lachlan, Bryony and Rori.
She is also survived by special sister-in-law, Annie MacDonald, Burgeo, and many (oh, so many!) nieces and nephews in North Sydney, throughout Newfoundland
and Labrador, and Canada, who always made it a priority to visit Aunt Cora while traveling.
Having moved to the Northside Community Guest home in 2016, she treasured all the new-found friendships she made there, especially Shirley and Eileen, and she could set her watch to the reliable visits from her niece, Janie; nephews, Sammy and Capt. Dan and George.
She cared for her neighbours as though they were her own family: John and Ann Buchannan, David Walsh, Greg and Sylvia Dearing and the Clark “boys.”
Mom would like us to offer heartfelt thanks to Dr. John Kirkpatrick (she always thought you were the best and a “fine looking young man” to boot!), the Northside Homemaker Service Society (her “Angels”) for years of helping her to maintain a comfortable life in her home, Seniors’ Day Care, in Sydney Mines, with Cathy, Freda and Donald and last, but by no means least, Kelly, Mary Lynn, Charlene, Tanya, Brett and Dianne, and all the competent and caring staff of Joseph Hall, you have all earned your wings.
Visitation for Cora will be held from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Friday in the W.J. Dooley Funeral Home, 107 Pleasant St., North Sydney.
The funeral will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday at St. John the Baptist Anglican Church, North Sydney with Rev. Julio Martin officiating. Reception will follow in the church hall.
To those who wish, memorial donations may be made to St. John the Baptist Anglican Church, The Northside Community Guest Home, Palliative Care or a charity of your choice.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.wjdooley.com.
