Catherine Elias
Catherine Elias (nee McDonald) born November 15, 1938, died peacefully in Toronto surrounded by family on Tuesday, April 2, 2019.
Beloved wife of Allen Elias and devoted mother of Gillian and Clare (Gavin Barber) and sister to Charles McDonald (Brenda) and Joe MacDonald (Debra). Kay was also a loving aunt to David Campbell, Charles’ children, Karene, James and Stephanie as well as to Joes’ children, Michael, Caroline and Denise.
Kay is survived by cousins, Bill Petrie of Hamilton, Vincent Browner (Mary Lou), Francis Browner (Margaret) both of Glace Bay.
She was predeceased by her parents, James and Bernadette McDonald and her sister, Iola Campbell (John) and Patricia Petrie.
Kay graduated from MacDonald High School in Dominion and went on to graduate from St. Joseph’s School of Nursing in Glace Bay. She worked for several years at St. Rita’s Hospital in Sydney. Later after working as a pediatric nurse in Halifax she moved to Toronto where she taught pediatric nursing at Sick Children’s Hospital.
Through mutual friends, she met Allen and they married in 1972. Allen introduced her to various sports including skating and skiing, but she refused to do moguls! Kay and Allen shared a passion for books, especially history. In 1975, Kay retired from nursing to become a full-time mom to her daughters.
Kay enjoyed hosting dinner parties and was a great baker, teaching her daughters many tricks in the kitchen. Kay was keen on politics and history and despite her diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia wanted to follow the news of Brexit up until about two weeks before she died. She adored her visits to Europe to visit her daughter Gillian and her niece Karene when they lived abroad. Kay was a tremendous cat lover as well as an avid gardener in her later life in Toronto and shared these passions with her dear neighbors, Ron and Jean Taylor and Georgie and Jens McVeigh.
The cycle of life was completed when Clare’s daughter was born, April 6, 2019 and was named Elyanna Catherine Elias Barber.
A celebration of Catherine’s life was held at the family home on Saturday, April 6, 2019.
We would like to extend our immense appreciation to Kay’s nieces Karene, Stephanie and her nephew David, for the very special attention they showed Kay in these last months. Our gratitude also to the staff at Centenary and Sunnybrook hospitals and at the Millwood where she resided for the last 4 months of her life.
Donations can be made to the charities important to Catherine, which include:
Mercy Ships https://mercyships.ca/
Plan International www.plancanada.ca
Alzheimer’s Society of Canada https://alzheimer.ca/en/Home
Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada www.mssociety.ca
Cancer Society www.cancer.ca
Sunnybrook Hospital Foundation https://sunnybrook.ca/foundation/
