Obituary
Mary Elizabeth Zacher (nee Buckley) passed away on the 15th day of September 2020 at Southwood Hospice with family at her side following a nearly three-year courageous battle with ALS. She was predeceased by both parents, Brigitte and Percy; and brothers Robert (Wilma), Eric (Tonny) and Charles. Mary is survived by her husband Syl Zacher, daughter Natalie (Thomas Bererton), sons Neil (Lorraine), Trevor (Nathalie), Darren (Tara Pickford) and seven grandchildren: Carina, Jordan, Kieran, Ryan, Jasmine, Tara and Abbey. She is also survived by her brothers George (Marilyn), Leonard (Sam Leung), Paul (Theresa) and Tom (Susan) and sisters Cecilia and Imelda.
Mary was born on March 23, 1942 in Rossland, BC, the sixth of ten children of Brigitte and Percy Wall (Tom) Buckley. She received her elementary education in Trail, BC, and completed high school in Nelson, BC. Mary attended the University of Alberta in Edmonton, earning her diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology in 1963. She worked in medical labs at the Edmonton General Hospital, the Calgary General Hospital, and for Calgary Medical Laboratories in various satellite labs.
In 1966 Mary met and married her life partner, Syl Zacher, and together they raised four wonderful children.
Mary enjoyed many activities over the years including hiking, cross-country skiing, especially in the Kananaskis and Canmore regions, plus camping with the family. She excelled at creating through sewing and cross stitching. She loved a good game of bridge, and in later years discovered and fell in love with line dancing.
Mary was active in church music ministry, both at the parish and diocesan level, having served on the Diocesan Liturgical Commission for four years, helping to organize and attending conferences. She also established and directed the St. Bonaventure Funeral Choir for several years.
An important part of Mary’s life was the personal healing, growth, and learning, which came through her participation for over 25 years in the worldwide Living in Process community, established by the late Dr. Anne Wilson Schaef. Living and sharing with this community literally transformed her life, helping her become a much better person, healing broken relationships, and deepening her personal spirituality.
Most important to Mary was family. She loved spending time with them, playing games, going on outings, or just being together to share a meal. Mary especially loved her annual holiday cookie baking get-togethers with her grandchildren, where they would bake cookies to put in their advent calendars which she had sewn for them. Then they would bake and decorate gingerbread cookies. She cherished following the progression through the years of how their decorating changed and became more refined.
It takes a village to see a family through the rocky journey of ALS. The family would like to thank the following people and agencies who were with us for this journey: all the professionals at the neuromuscular clinic at the South Health Campus who were a wealth of knowledge and support; everyone at the ALS society who provided support groups, equipment loans as well as an ear to bend whenever we needed one; Kara, Beth and the entire homecare team as well as the health care aids and nurses at WeCare who kept mom at home and a part of her community for as long as possible, the S-LP and OT at the ACETS clinic who made sure that mom always had a voice, even when hers failed her; and finally the staff at Southwood Hospice who provided such excellent and compassionate care in mom’s final weeks as well as individuals mom reached out to who provided expertise and support are not named here.
Prayers and a Funeral Mass will be held at Holy Spirit Catholic Church with a private graveside service to follow at Rocky View Garden of Peace Cemetery.
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Mary Elizabeth Zacher March 23 1942 September 15 2020 (age 78)..
Death notice for the town of: Calgary, Province: Alberta
Sending our Condolences. May peace replace heartache and warmest memories remain.