Parcourez la nécrologie de Andrea Prossin 2024 résidant dans la province Nova Scotia pour le détail des funérailles
The family of Mrs. Andrea Prossin (nee Mombourquette) regrets to announce the passing of their mother on Thursday, April 18, 2024, at Sunnybrook Health Science Center, Toronto, ON. She was 92 years of age at the time of her passing. Her husband, Dr. Albert “Albie” Prossin, passed away only nine days earlier on April 9, 2024.
Andrea (pronounced Andre) was born on March 21, 1932, in South Bar, Nova Scotia, near Sydney. She lived a long and full life. She was raised by her mother, Frances (Ongo) Mombourquette in and around the Sydney area. Andrea was affectionately known to her friends and family as “Dolly” in her early years.
Andrea’s mother, Frances, was born in Baddeck, NS and her grandparents were friendly with Alexander Graham Bell and his wife. In fact, mom’s grandfather worked for Alexander Graham Bell building boats and other things, and her grandmother also worked for Graham Bell building lifeboats during the First World War. They eventually moved to South Bar where mom was born.
After graduating from Holy Angels High School, Andrea was very interested in helping people, so it was a natural fit for her to decide to go into nursing. She attended St. Martha’s School of Nursing in Antigonish, NS and after graduating, she first went to work at the Shaughnessy Hospital in Vancouver, B.C., and eventually returned to Sydney to work at St. Rita’s Hospital. While working there, Andrea met her future husband, Albie who has told the story of how one day he went onto the 2nd floor and looked up and saw Andrea and he was smitten with her immediately. It was love at first sight.
Andrea was raised as a Catholic and she decided to convert to Judaism prior to getting married. It was very important to her to raise her kids as active participants in the Jewish religion. She made sure that we were all well-dressed and in attendance at every Friday night and Saturday morning service at the Temple Sons of Israel Synagogue in Sydney, as well as for all of the Jewish holidays. She loved celebrating the Jewish holidays together as a family and it was very important to her. Andrea was a very active member of the Hadassah-Wizo Organization of Canada chapters in Sydney, Ottawa and in Montreal during her time spent living in each city.
If you were following our mother around when we were kids you definitely would have been out of breathe. With five children born within six years of being married, she was on the go every single day taking us to all of our various activities including, cheerleading, dance classes, Brownies and Girl Guides for the girls and hockey practices and games, baseball, Beavers, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts for the boys, music lessons for all of us, as well as many other activities that we participated in throughout the years. When all of mom’s chauffeur services were finished for the day it was of the utmost importance to our mother that we all would sit down together for dinner as a family and we did that on a daily basis at our home in Westmount.
Our mother loved fashion and especially she loved supporting Canadian fashion designers and she passed this trait down to her daughters.
When we were kids it would have been odd to see mom watching sports on TV, however, after moving to Ottawa, then Montreal, she became addicted to watching the Toronto Blue Jays virtually every day. She loved her Blue Jays and loved talking about their exploits. She loved doing her crossword puzzles and also passed her free time watching the shopping channel. Mom has always been a big fan of old movies from the golden age of Hollywood.
We all knew that mom was very handy with the needle and thread. Whether it was mending something that needed repairs or creating something for one or more of us to wear, she was skilled at making handmade costumes for all of us kids as needed for school plays, various holidays, and celebrations, especially yearly for Halloween.
Andrea was first a nurse, then a homemaker, then a businesswoman for many years while operating a number of family businesses. She always had a maternal way about how she dealt with all of her employees and was always there to help them and support them over the years and she treated them like family.
Mom also had hobbies. For a period of time, she was an enthusiastic painter and drawer. She was an active member of her weekly bridge club for years with a tight knit group of ladies who were all very close friends, during the time that our family lived in Westmount.
Andrea and Albie both loved to travel. They enjoyed traveling to far reaches of the world over the years including, various trips to Europe, Asia, Israel, Hawaii, Mexico, Trinidad and all over Canada and the USA, including a number of cruises, which they enjoyed, and they continued to do well into their 80s.
The Prossin family, led by Andrea and Albie, were active longtime members of the Temple Sons of Israel Synagogue in Sydney and Andrea and Albie were the initial members of the Chabad of Nuns Island congregation, near Montreal, that they helped establish and grow, over the past several years, into a thriving congregation.
Andrea is survived by her children and grandchildren; daughters, Anneliese ‘Lisa” Fiala (Martin “Marty”), Tennessee and Aviva MacKenzie (Jean-Marc),Toronto; sons, Adam, Seattle, Andrew (Kate), Ottawa and Alan, Houston; grandchildren, Austin Fiala, Taylor MacKenzie, Connor MacKenzie, Hannah Prossin, Marina Prossin, Jonah Prossin and Ari “AJ” Prossin.
Andrea was predeceased, nine days prior, by her husband Dr. Albert “Albie” Prossin. They would have celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on April 12th. She was also predeceased by her dear mother, Frances (Ongo) Mombourquette.
Andrea was very close with Albie’s siblings and their families, and she is survived by her sister-in-law, Sylvia Brown (Irving), New York.
She was predeceased by her sisters-in-law, Rita Aronson (Hy), New York, Molly Mallman (Don), San Diego; brother-in-law, Benjamin “Benny” Prossin, Toronto; mother-in-law, Rebecca « Becky » (Blackman) Prossin; and father-in-law, Samuel « Sam » Prossin.
Andrea was very proud of all of her children and grandchildren. She will be missed greatly by all of them. She also loved and was loved by many nieces and nephews and many friends from all over Canada and the USA.
A graveside service will be held in the coming week at the Hebrew Cemetery, Whitney Pier. The details will be posted on the Sydney Memorial Chapel website.
If you want to make a donation in Andrea and/or Albie’s memory then the family would suggest donating to “Christmas Daddies” or to plant a tree in Israel in their names through the Jewish National Fund of Canada, which were both charities that they supported during their lifetimes.
We love you mom!
Words of comfort can be sent to the family at www.sydneymemorialchapel.com
2024
Décès pour la Ville Sydney, Province Nova Scotia
avis deces Andrea Prossin 2024
nécrologie Andrea Prossin 2024
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