Mary Elizabeth Hayward
1932-2020
Mary Hayward – born March 30, 1932, Simonds, NB. Died July 26, 2020
Scarborough, Ontario
Mary Hayward was old-school in the best and truest sense of the word:
she read the Bible, spoke her mind, and maintained a hard-pew
work-ethic. For decades, she walked miles to work along the banks of
the Saint John River, through summer heat and winter blizzards. She
saved her pennies, and ran an Eatons catalogue order office with
efficiency and care, totting up company accounts in hand-written
ledgers.
Mary, known to family as Mimi, was born and raised in Simonds, a rural
hamlet just outside Hartland, a New Brunswick town best known as the
home of the world’s longest covered bridge. Along with her
brothers and sisters, Mimi was taught the value of hard work and
economy by her extended family, a clan of lumberjacks, carpenters and
farmers.
The Hayward family was defined by toughness, character and flinty
independence. As a child, Mimi watched as her grandfather’s legs
were amputated on the kitchen table by the town doctor following a
sawmill accident. Mimi’s father built furniture in the
dirt-floor basement, and her mother collected miniature china shoes.
The dinner table was home to spirited debates. Mimi’s cousin,
Richard Hatfield, became a political star, and rose to premier of New
Brunswick.
When her parents died, Mimi bought their house and carried on. In the
1970s, Mimi’s life changed when Eatons shut down its Hartland
catalogue office. Mimi moved to Toronto, landed a job as a book-keeper
for a Baptist Church organization, and set up a small apartment that
would be her home for nearly 40 years,
Mimi never married, and never had children, but she was a den-mother.
To keep her mind sharp, Mimi memorized birth dates and anniversaries.
She could recite them for hours, and she loved to send hand-written
birthday cards to her many nieces and nephews and their growing
clans.
Mimi took pride in family, and in living within her means: she saved
for retirement, and spent modestly. She loved buying records and
playing them for young relatives. As a young woman, Mimi performed
with a New Brunswick singing group. She collected family pictures and
kept them in neatly catalogued albums, with names and dates written on
the back of each image.
Mimi lived out the last decades of her life in Canada’s biggest
city, yet her high-rise apartment was a microcosm that preserved her
small-town values. Her mother’s miniature shoe collection was
arranged in a cabinet, always carefully dusted, just as it had been
since Mimi was a little girl.
Mimi’s independence was often a challenge to others. As her
health declined, she refused to move to assisted living, despite the
admonitions of her doctors and her family. A long series of falls left
her with broken bones and severely restricted mobility, but Mimi
refused to move. When she finally moved to a nursing home, it was late
in the game. When Covid 19 hit her facility, 53 residents died. Mimi
contracted the virus, yet survived.
The end came after she was sent to hospital for emergency surgery.
Against all odds, she survived the operation and lived on for more
than two months. On the morning of July 26, Mimi died peacefully in
her sleep. She is returning home to Hartland for her funeral and
burial service. Funeral arrangements are in the care of
Britton’s Funeral Home in Hartland.
Mary is survived by her brother, George Hayward (Maxine) of
Fredericton and younger sister, Jane Hovey (Graydon, deceased) of
Hartland. She is also survived by nieces Suzanne Whitehorn (Alan),
Beverly Andrews (Harold), Melanie Antworth (Brian), Katherine Belyea
(Lorne), Martha Lambert (Jon), Amanda Becking (Ian); Nephews Andrew
Hovey, Peter Cheney (Marian), Rob Cheney (Julie), Steve Hayward
(Cathy), Dan Hayward (Kirstey.) Mary is predeceased by her parents
William and Dora Hayward of Hartland, brother Ivan Hayward, and her
sister, Tharon Cheney.
Arrangements have not yet been finalized and will be announced as soon
as they are available. Mary will be interred alongside her parents in
the Greenwood Cemetery in Hartland. www.brittonfh.ca 506-375-4343
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Mary Elizabeth Hayward 19322020..
Death notice for the town of: Hartland, Province: Nouveau-Brunswick