MAGWOOD, Marie, (nee Paul), 71, of Dartmouth, passed away peacefully at home Sunday, February 19, 2012, following a hard-fought, four-year battle with lung, head and neck cancer. Peter, her loving husband of 25 years, was alone at her side and picked up from the floor the tattered, well-read prayer to Ste. Anne she had held in her failing hands while she sat quietly in her favorite chair with eyes closed and hands clasped in devotion. Marie, one of the first women in Nova Scotia to have had her land claim settled and native status restored by Bill C-31, an Act to Amend the Indian Act, in the late 1980s, was a proud, often-outspoken Millbrook band member who was known and admired for her gregariousness, friendship, loyalty to and love of family and friends in Dartmouth, Halifax, Truro and Ottawa. She was the daughter of the late Irene (Cope) Paul and Andrew Wilfred Paul, of the Millbrook Mi’kmaq First Nations Reserve, Truro, and sister to Cecilia Phillips and Evelyn Paul, of Millbrook. She also was the aunt of Colleen Croucher, of Indian Harbour, N.S., who was the daughter of the late Phyllis (Paul) Croucher, Marie’s younger sister, and great aunt to Paige Croucher and Mason Croucher, all of Indian Harbour.
Our sincere thanks to the many doctors, nurses and technicians who attended Marie during her four years of consultations, treatments and examinations at the Nova Scotia Cancer Centre and the QE II Health Sciences Centre, Halifax. They are too numerous to mention here but Marie and Peter were very fond of Dr. Richard Warren, our family physician; Dr. Slawa Cwajna and Dr. Gaurav Bahl, radiation oncologists, and Dr. Stephanie Snow, medical oncologist, her last attending specialist. Your compassion, dedication and professionalism were heartwarming and inspiring and we found great comfort in your doctor-patient communication skills and humanity. A special thanks to young RCMP constables Heidi Stevenson and Chris Pilon for your kind words of comfort; to the EHS paramedics and firefighters who tried to revive Marie and told me, in the gentlest way possible, that she had passed away quickly and quietly, and to Rev. Katherine Bourbonniere, of the Church of Saint Andrew, Cole Harbour, for her words of solace, wisdom and encouragement on the day of our loss. To pharmacist and friend Don Kyte and all staff at Kyte’s Pharmasave -- God Bless and thank you all once again.
Family, friends and all who knew Marie are invited to attend a graveside internment ceremony at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, February 25, 2012, at Sacred Heart cemetery, Church Road, Millbrook, which will be conducted by Fr. Francesco Pirifi. A celebration of life will follow at the Millbrook community hall nearby.


To cure -- sometimes
To relieve -- often
To comfort -- always
(a little sign in a Halifax hospital office window)