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Sarah Elizabeth 'Ada' MacLean

Sarah Elizabeth 'Ada'  MacLean

Born In: MacKinnon Harbour

Passed in: Baddeck
Passed on: March 7th, 2016

Sarah Elizabeth (Ada) MacLean died on Monday, March 7, 2016 at the age of 91.
Except for the last two months at the hospital, Ada had been able to live a full life at home in MacKinnon Harbour, Victoria County doing the things she loved and did so well, including cooking, baking, knitting, gardening, berry picking, solving crossword puzzles, hosting visitors, and sharing her deep knowledge and opinions on virtually everything under the sun.
Ada was predeceased by her husband, Alex C., her parents, Dan Joe and Cassie (Walker) MacKenzie; her adoptive parents, John Y. and Flora (Walker) Gillis and their family, with whom she was raised after the death of her mother and held close to her heart; her siblings, Kay, Archie, Jessie and James D., and her grandson, Neil.
She is survived by her children, Lyla, Dartmouth, Casilda (Kenzie MacKinnon), Halifax, Marina, Antigua, Aileen (Steve Griffiths), Ottawa Brook, Mark, Dartmouth, and Paul, MacKinnon Harbour, her niece Cathy MacLean, Toronto; her grandchildren, Emily Colvill, Alec MacKinnon and Annie Mae MacKinnon, and her great-grandchildren, Ross and Sarah Colvill.
Although she enjoyed the many pleasures of raising her family in the traditional Scottish culture of rural Cape Breton, Ada was a thoroughly modern woman. She had a refined aesthetic sense from an early age, especially in cooking and clothing. She graduated from high school at 16 and began her teaching career the in local schools. She then graduated from St. F.X. in 1946 with a Bachelor of Science, worked as a teacher and dietician before returning to MacKinnon Harbour with Alex to start her family. After raising her children, Ada returned to teaching in Iona from 1969 to 1985. She was a natural educator, with an easy ability to provoke curiosity and to make learning interesting. After her retirement, her principal obsessions were her experiments in gardening and a particular proficiency with the knitting machine on which she made work socks too many to count. Ada and her family appreciated the warm care she received from the staff at the Baddeck Memorial Hospital and from its palliative care team.
Visitation will be held in Iona Parish Hall Friday, March 11 from 2 to 9 p.m. Funeral service at St. Columba Church, Iona, Saturday March 12 at 11 a.m.
Loaves and Fishes Cape Breton was her favourite charity.


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