Edna Mary Terry (Handy) Obituary
26 November 1924 – 26 October 2021
Edna died in her sleep on 26 October 2021 at the Northumberland Hills Hospital in Cobourg, Ontario. She was one month shy of her 97th birthday. She was predeceased in 2016 by her husband of 69 years, Fred, and survived by her two sons Christopher (Victoria) of Port Hope, ON and Charles (Maryann) of Taylors, South Carolina as well as three grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
Edna was born and raised in the Cotswold village of Ilmington, Warwickshire, England. Just before her 18th birthday she volunteered for the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force where she served as a highly skilled wireless operator as part of the RAF “Y” Service. She was subsequently awarded the Bletchley Medal for her work in wartime signals intelligence. She remained a very proud WAAF all her life and was the last survivor of the 42 Ilmingtonians who served.
In 1957 her family immigrated to Canada, living first on a farm north of Bowmanville and then in Aurora, Collingwood and finally Port Hope. For many years she enjoyed summer holidays at her family’s vacation property on Prince Edward Island and winter ones at Orchid Lake in New Port Richey, Florida.
Edna was a talented pianist, an avid reader and a lover of the countryside. She excelled as an extraordinary Scrabble player, excellent cook and baker, skilled knitter and aficionado of difficult crossword puzzles. She was also an enthusiastic member of the Georgian Bay British Car Club where she frequently joined Fred as co-pilot in their vintage MGB. Everyone she met held her with great affection. A person of great warmth, integrity and common sense plus a hidden mischievous streak, she will be greatly missed by her family and friends in Canada, the UK and the USA.
Her family wishes to acknowledge with thanks the dedication, thoughtfulness and skill of all those who cared for Edna in the final years of her long life including the difficult period of the COVID 19 pandemic. Particular thanks go to Doctors Haunts, Swain and Koll, the nursing staffs of unit 2A of the Northumberland Hills Hospital and the Durham Regional Cancer Centre at Lakeridge Health in Oshawa, the nurses of the St Elizabeth Society and the Victorian Order of Nurses, the staff of the Central East LHIN and the amazing staff of the Empire Crossing Retirement Community where she lived.
Cremation has taken place. Edna will be interred with Fred, a fellow wartime RAF volunteer, in the veterans’ area of the Port Hope Union Cemetery in due course. A commemorative event will be held for her in the spring of 2022 at Sunset Point in Collingwood, her favourite spot to watch the sun sinking into Georgian Bay.
Funeral arrangements are being handled by the Ross Funeral Chapel, 135 Walton St, Port Hope, ON L1A 1N4. In lieu of flowers the family requests that any donations you may wish to make in Edna’s memory be directed to the charity of your choice or the Northumberland Hills Hospital Foundation.
Per Ardua Ad Astra
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Edna Terry Handy Tuesday October 26th 2021..
Death notice for the town of: Port-Hope, Province: Ontario