Margaret MacLean
Lieu de naissance : Dominion, Nouvelle Ecosse, Canada
Lieu de décès : North Sydney, Nouvelle Ecosse, Canada
Date de décès : 7 octobre 2009
With many thanks for a life well lived, we announce the passing of our beloved mother, nana, aunt and mother-in-law, Margaret MacLean, at the Harbour View Hospital Veterans Wing on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009, at the age of 86.
The last surviving member of her immediate family, Margaret was born in Dominion, Cape Breton, the daughter of the late Stanley and Josephine (Cathcart) MacPherson. She was a member of Immaculate Conception parish in Sydney Mines.
Formerly of Fraser Avenue, Sydney Mines, Margaret spent the last three years at Harbour View, where she quickly became a valued member of this special close-knit community of military veterans. Until her recent illness, she could often be found ‘on patrol’, making the rounds of this impressive facility, and stopping to visit with those guests who were not so mobile, or able to leave their rooms.
After finishing school she moved to Toronto, where she worked in a munitions factory during the early years of the Second World War. Working with explosives and live ammunition was not a job for the fainthearted, but her service record states that she excelled because of her conscientious nature and attention to detail.
On the advice of a senior officer she joined the Canadian Armed Forces early in 1943, as a member of the Canadian Women’s Army Corps. Following basic training she went overseas, and spent the last three years of the war in and around London, England, as a member of a Canadian Army Service Battalion.
After returning to Canada in 1946, she worked at the Point Edward Naval Base, where she met her future husband. In 1959 she retired from the base, married Pat MacLean, and the happy couple took up residence in Sydney Mines, where he was employed as a school teacher. In 1965 the arrival of twin boys Michael and Donald brought a new dimension to their happy marriage and Margaret became a full time mother. Margaret’s boys and their families were always first and foremost in her and Pat’s lives and were the topic of daily conversations. After many years of being a caregiver for her mother and later her husband, the Veterans Hospital staff gave her the care she so much deserved and appreciated. As she often said “she could not be in a better placeâ€.
A former president of the Catholic Women’s League, she was also a valued member of Branch 8 (Sydney Mines) of the Royal Canadian Legion. Over the years she did a lot of volunteer work in the community, including teaching religion classes after hours at Sydney Mines Junior High.
Margaret is survived by her sons, Michael (Marie-Claire), Ottawa, and Donald (Kim), Burlington, ON; grandchildren, Melina, Jenna, Tyler and Yanick and various other extended family members.
She was predeceased by her husband, Pat MacLean; two brothers, Ernest, Fellis and two sisters, Mary Ellen and Clara.
The family would like to thank Dr. John Kirkpatrick, the staff at Harbour View Veterans Wing, and all her friends for their kindness, compassion and support over the last three years, and during her recent illness. There are no words to express how we feel towards all of you.
A heart filled thank you, from her boys, to her niece Catherine Gillis; nephews, Rannie and Malcolm Gillis, Jackie and Gerald Tobin, Gail and Charles Hawboldt, the MacPherson family, the Hatcher family and all her ‘veteran’ friends for all the love, care and friendship they have provided.
Visitation for Margaret MacLean will be held in the J. M. Jobes Funeral Home, 635 Main St., Sydney Mines, on Friday, Oct. 9, 2009, from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m.. Funeral mass will take place on Saturday at 10 a.m. in Immaculate Conception Church, Convent Street, Sydney Mines, with Fr. Thomas John officiating. A reception will follow.
Memorial donations in Margaret’s memory may be made to the Canadian Cancer Society, the Arthritis Society, the Northside Hospital Foundation (Harbour View Veteran’s Wing), or to a charity of choice.
Words of comfort may be sent to the family at jmjobesfuneralhome@aliantzinc.ca
