Obituary for
Gladys Mary Hunter (Boyd)
Hunter, Gladys
1918-2018
On June 9, 2018 in Ottawa, Gladys died in her 101st year. She celebrated her centennial in January with 40 friends and relatives, and greetings from her doppelganger, HRH Queen Elizabeth II. Her life spanned a century of technological change, the First and Second World Wars, plus the Great Depression, and to the end, she maintained a strong mind as she sloughed off cancers, strokes, and a heart attack. Her idyllic prairie childhood in Regina formed her love of nature, curling and figure skating. Her intelligence led her to graduate from the University of Toronto with a degree in Physiotherapy. She joined Shriners Hospital in Philadelphia to battle the polio epidemic and when Canada entered WW2, answered the call of the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps, establishing a physio rehab centre at CFB Kingston. There, she met and married Lloyd Hunter and started a family, moving to London and then Ottawa. During the Fifties and Sixties she corralled children, volunteered, and weekly bombarded parliamentarians with letters demanding action on the status of women, the justice system, the environment, standards for food products, and support for the arts. She was a voracious reader, an avid cottager, an average bridge player, a determined seamstress, a talented knitter, an active church member, a charity canvasser, and for 40 years, a champion bowler. She requalified and resumed her Physio career at the Ottawa Civic Hospital from 1970 to 1983, where she was also a union steward. Ever resourceful, she invested in power tools to finish the cottage and, well into her 70s, built 60 feet of dock. This May, “Grammie” as her family knew her, sported a fascinator to watch the Royal Wedding and took in the Tulip Festival one last time. She is predeceased by husband Lloyd, brother Jack Boyd and sister Cecile Amon, and survived by children: Jim (Julie) of Cornwall; Don (Enid), and Pat Hunter of Ottawa; grandchildren: Sarah, Jonathan (Jenn) and Neil Hunter and great-grandchildren: Alex Pond and Dylan, Keely, and Zoe Hunter, plus step grand-children: Anthony (Allison), Derek (Marjo), and Vanessa Brown and step great-grandchildren: Treyson Dewar, Ella-Neige, Carter, Jovi and Hugo Brown, plus many amazed nephews and nieces. The family thanks Dr. Ruth Farey and the staff at Maplewood Retirement Home for their kindness. Family and friends are invited to attend a Memorial Service at Rideau Park United Church, 2203 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa on Thursday, June 28th, at 11am. Donations to the Canadian Cancer Society in her honour are appreciated.
Condolences/Tributes/Donations
Hulse, Playfair & McGarry
www.hpmcgarry.ca
613-233-1143
Order Flowers
Nos plus sincères sympathies à la famille et aux amis de Gladys Mary Hunter Boyd 1918 2018.source
Décès pour la Ville: Ottawa, Province: Ontario
