Obituary Overview
Alma Mae Day
July 8, 1927 ~ February 4, 2018
Alma Mae Day, age 90, made her final journey on the morning of February 4, 2018, holding the hands of loved ones who could not accompany her, despite our suspicions that she was not keen to go alone. In the end she went bravely and peacefully, determined, we suspect, to make the best of it, something she always did even at those times―and there were many―when life did not go as she hoped it would.
Alma was a fierce mother, alternating between protecting and pushing her children as she felt the situation warranted, and regardless of whether they agreed with her analysis. She had her own mind, and would not be dissuaded. Alma’s determination and single-mindedness showed itself early. She apparently spent much of her childhood hiding up a tree devouring any reading material she could get her hands on (much to the chagrin of her many sisters, who were busy helping their mother with the endless chores of Newfoundland outport living). She left home to attend teacher’s college at the age of 16, and was often teaching students older than herself once she was certified at 17.
She valued education above all things, and dedicated a long career to teaching other people’s children (in Grand Falls, Newfoundland; Truro, Nova Scotia; and finally, for 17 years, in Montreal) as well as her own, and after her retirement, to continuing to learn herself through a return to school and through worldwide travel, favouring destinations steeped in history. She was always interested in and knowledgeable about current affairs, and preferred to read or watch the news above almost all things.
She was always frugal, participating in reuse, redeem, repair and recycle efforts long before it was trendy. One of her greatest achievements was a year-long sabbatical in England in 1967/68 on a $4,000 half-salary and seven years of savings―a time universally acknowledged to be “the best year of our lives” as a family, and certainly one of the most formative for her children, who both return regularly to the UK with a deep nostalgia. Her chest of drawers was filled with socks darned at the heels, and her children went to school with sandwiches wrapped with the inside of cereal boxes instead of wax paper. She was never one to leave an unused tea bag, a sugar packet, or a single-serving of marmalade to languish on a restaurant or dining room table.
Alma was always up for a game of cards, and was a joyful (yet still cutthroat) player, through the years sharing with family and friends innumerable raucous hands of 31, crib, rummoli, bridge and Skipbo around all the kitchen tables of her long life.
Alma leaves behind her two children, Michael (Kathy) and Dian (Andrea); her five grandchildren, Chris (Natalie), Jamie (Hannah), Ceilidh (Tammy), Tove (Nik), and Owen; and her three great-grandchildren, Kaia, Silas, and Freya; she also leaves younger siblings, Verlie, Cyrus, Georgina, Nathaniel, and Marie; as well as almost countless nieces and nephews, including the particularly cherished children of her sisters, Hilda, Mildred, Rachel and Marguerite; she also leaves dear friends, including the relatively new ones, Diana, Kathy, and Sandra; and many others from the congregation of St. John’s Anglican Church in Wolfville, who together brought much joy and deep caring to her closing years.
Donations in her memory may be made to the Valley Regional Hospital Foundation – Alma Day visitor bed fund. During her final days in hospital, members of her family stayed with her overnight, along with many other individuals supporting their own gravely ill or dying loved ones, all stealing a few hours of anxious sleep in reclining chairs or ancient folding cots with broken springs. Alma’s visitor bed fund will allow others to receive the family care and support they need while in hospital, and will provide the family members themselves some much needed rest and comfort. Please visit www.vrhfoundation.ca/memorial-in-honour-gifts/ and email vrh.foundation@ns.sympatico.ca or call 902 678-5414 if you wish to make a donation in her memory.
A celebration of Alma’s life will take place at St. John’s Anglican Church, Wolfville, at 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 10, 2018, with refreshments to follow in the church hall.
Nos plus sincères sympathies à la famille et aux amis de Alma Mae Day 2018.source
Décès pour la Ville: Windsor, Province: Nova Scotia
