Melissa Marie MacDonald
Sydney Mines
Stardate 73201.1
It is with both great sadness and immeasurable love that we announce the passing of Melissa Marie MacDonald, our beloved daughter, big sister, auntie, cousin and friend, on Thursday, September 26, 2019. Melissa emerged into the world on December 5th, 1981 in St. Catharines, Ontario to proud parents Michael and Theresa (MacLellan) MacDonald, for whom she would become the love of their lives.
As the eldest of three children, it is of no surprise that Melissa was an old soul from birth. She was a precocious child, a fierce blend of bright and curious with “coke-bottle” glasses resting on her button nose. Her thirst for knowledge was evident in early life, and was a quality she would not only carry with her into adulthood, but also inspire in others.
Melissa and family relocated to Cape Breton at the age of 7, and this is the place where she would find herself most at home, forging strong and impermeable bonds of family and friendship. Though her incredible intelligence granted her the world at her fingertips, Melissa delighted in a life of simplicity. The pursuits of the hum-drum ‘status-quo’ were of little concern to her, and beneath her shy exterior lived a wildly romantic and poetic soul with an imagination so vast that no number of intellectual or creative endeavours could contain it.
A mind well travelled, she found comfort in worlds both real and fictional, ever keeping her mind open to expansion and entertaining new ideas. She was a master of many crafts, with a natural talent for music and the arts. Perhaps the greatest art she would master was her sense of humour. Whether it was a clever observation delivered with impeccable timing and a funny voice, or a joke at her own expense, Melissa possessed a quick wit that could disarm just about anyone. Her wisdom and consistency of character granted her family and friends the great privilege of her council and sage advice in matters both serious and trivial. And when there was no advice, she simply lent a listening ear. Melissa possessed the ability to find beauty and order in the unconventional and the chaotic, a testament to her big heart and unconditional love. Though a fiercely private person, she never failed to be generous with letting others into her space, and was so often a pillar of strength to many; a beacon of light to others even when her own seas were stormy and uncertain.
A self proclaimed “crazy cat lady” she adored and took great comfort in her many feline friends, some of whom survive her (Apache, Eyrie, Leela) and some of whom await her arrival across the rainbow bridge (Harry, Oreo, Puschemi, Spunky).
Melissa passed away peacefully at home surrounded by her loved ones. And though we mourn her untimely passing, we can take solace and great pride that Melissa has left this earth with no regrets in her wake. May her soul shine as brightly as her mind, her heart and her smile.
One of Melissa’s greatest points of pride was being part of a large family, or “clan” of whom she leaves behind: her loving parents, her siblings Michael (Jeanne) and Leah, her niece Aubrey and nephew William, her many aunts and uncles Alvin (Bonnie), Judy (Danny), Linda (Robin), Brenda (Wayne), Brian (Georgie), Karen (Alex), Johnny (Kelly), Bobby (Mia), Marjorie (Leo), Jane (Tommy), Walter (Lynn), Alounda, Danny (Marjorie), Peter, Gerard (Debbie), Angie (Jimmy), Mary (Larry), Alan (Nancy) and Paulie (Francis).
Melissa also leaves behind many cousins, as well as her beloved and life long friends Justin Marsh, Liz Evans, and Steven Burt.
Melissa is predeceased by her Nanny and Poppy MacLellan (Marjorie and Alvin), Granny and Grandfather MacDonald (Mae and Bob), Uncle “Long John” MacDonald (Kelly), Aunt Nora MacDonald, Uncle Alex MacDonald (Karen), Uncle Hughie Curry (Brenda), Uncle Leo MacKinnon (Marjorie), Uncle Tommy Finlayson (Jane) and cousins Zack MacDonald, Nicholas Withers (Ginny), Leah McInnis (Joe) and Corinne.
Visitation for Melissa will be held at J.M. Jobes Funeral Home, Sydney Mines on Sunday, September 29, 2019, from 2-4 & 7-9 p.m. The funeral Mass will take place Monday, at 11 a.m. in Holy Family Church, Sydney Mines, with Fr. Jim Oliver officiating. The burial will be in the parish cemetery. Words of comfort may be forwarded to her family at www.jmjobesfuneralhome.com
“So much universe, so little time.” – Terry Pratchett
Jobes logo, photo
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Melissa MacDonald..
Death notice for the town of: Sydney-Mines, Province: Nova Scotia