Mona Rae Tinkham
June 04, 2020
Mona Tinkham
Mona Rae Tinkham, age 72, passed away peacefully at Northwood Manor in Halifax on June 4, 2020. She was the eldest daughter of the late Joyce (Smith) and Wilfrid Tinkham of Yarmouth. She was born in and lived her formative years in Yarmouth and lived most of her adult life in the Halifax/Dartmouth area.
She is survived by sons Jeffery Sutton (Kim), Barry Sutton (Carrie), and Reggie Sutton (Trang); sisters Beverley Sullivan (Paul), Marsha Tinkham (Dan), and Eleanor Tinkham (Jim); brothers Bruce Tinkham (Diane) and Norman Tinkham (Trish); grandchildren Kyle, Katie, Cody, Ty and Rory. Her cousins, beloved nieces and nephews and their children were also a very important part of her family.
Mona graduated from Yarmouth High School in 1965, where she was awarded the Silver ‘Y’ for Leadership and the Birks Medal. She graduated from the Nova Scotia Teachers’ College in 1967, with a Diploma in Physical Education and began her lengthy teaching career at St. Pat’s Alexandra and Richmond School in Halifax. In 1986, she graduated from Dalhousie University with a Bachelor of Arts in Canadian History and achieved her Masters in Adult Education in 1989. She completed the two degrees while working full time and raising three boys.
One of Mona’s passions was Adult Learning and Continuing Education. As a consultant for the Department of Education, she established the Adult Learning Centre located at Greenvale School in Dartmouth, which included upgrading in Math and English for GED. She later returned to teaching children at Ian Forsythe Elementary School and John Martin Junior High in Dartmouth.
Mona generously volunteered a significant amount of time to another of her passions, which was the sporting world. She played a lead role in organizing numerous tournaments and events such as the Inaugural Canada Summer Games in 1969, initiating a summer baseball school while acting as the President of Central Dartmouth Minor Baseball, the 1982 Pan American Wheelchair Games, the Gold Cup World Wheelchair Basketball Tournament, and the National Intermediate Baseball Championships held in Dartmouth in 1988. Other volunteer activities included developing the Dartmouth High Daycare Centre as part of the HRSB health and wellness initiative, as well as serving on the Board of the United Way and organizing the Nova Scotia leg of the Rick Hansen ‘Man in Motion World Tour’ as he travelled around the world in a wheelchair for spinal cord research, in conjunction with the Abilities Foundation. Most recently she volunteered with Start to Finish Running and Reading, a national program for inner city schools, where she used her expertise to plan appropriate and engaging reading packages for elementary school students at Harbour View School in Dartmouth.
Mona was also very proud of her grandchildren’s accomplishments, including excelling in many sports, such as baseball, hockey, soccer, running, paddling, basketball, and martial arts. She also had a great experience in travelling across the U.S. during the summer of 2011 as a chaperone of then 8-year old grandson Kyle, while he played a starring role in the musical stage play “Billy Elliott” and she became a favourite of the cast and crew. She was very supportive of her siblings, nieces and nephews, and their children and enthusiastically attended their activities including music, theater, dance, and various sports.
Mona overcame many challenges in her life. At 41 she was diagnosed with advanced Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and was successfully treated at the Old Halifax Infirmary. She had a recurrence of Lymphoma at age 50. A year later she received a stem cell transplant from a family member which was integral to her recovery. After surviving life-threatening liver failure, one of her doctors told her (in good humour), ‘Mona, you are too darn stubborn to die’.
She enjoyed and made the most of life for the next 22 years but a residual effect of the numerous treatments and health challenges was kidney failure. In the early hours of June 4, 2020, she succumbed to advanced renal failure and she was relieved of her pain.
We would like to extend a special thank you to the dedicated nursing team at the VG (Floor 6B) where she spent several months, and the wonderful staff at Northwood – Swami, Rachel, Heather, Rose, Pam, Dr. MacGregor – and all others who cared for her during the past year and a half, particularly in her final days.
The family would also like to thank everyone for the outpouring of love and support during this time. She has been an inspiration to many and will be missed. A celebration of life will be planned for Mona in the coming months. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to The Northwood Foundation or the Start to Finish Running and Reading. Online condolences can be provided in the guestbook.
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Mona Rae Tinkham June 04 2020..
Death notice for the town of: Dartmouth, Province: Nova Scotia