Frances Ann McLellan
August 11, 1939 – August 17, 2021
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Frances Ann McLellan
August 11th, 1939 – August 17th, 2021
The glue that held the family together as well as many other organizations that she cared deeply about.
Born Frances Ann Longfield in Ingersoll, Ontario. She met the love of her life in high school in Ingersoll and married John McLellan on July 22nd, 1961. They moved to Oakville after Dad finished trade school to work at the Ford Motor Company where he spent his entire career. Together they had three children, Laura (David), Michael (Catharine) and Leanne. Sadly, Dad passed in November, 2016 from pulmonary fibrosis. Mom is survived by her brother James Longfield (Jean) of Kingston, her sister Ruth (David) of Georgetown. She is also survived by Alf & Susan McLellan of London, Chuck Shepley of Wasaga Beach and Leonard & Dorothy Geddie of Ingersoll. She is also pre-deceased by her parents Ida and (Francis) James as well as her sister Mary-Lou Geddie, her sister-in-law Anne Marie Shepley, her brother & sister-in-law Bill & Peggy McLellan of Sarnia and parents-in-law Bill & Margaret McLellan of Ingersoll. Finally, she is survived by her 5 wonderful grandchildren, Cassidy, Mitchell, Corey, Cameron and Cady. She was always keen to support them in order to allow them to pursue their interests and they in turn would help her out with whatever she asked them to do. She is also survived by numerous nieces & nephews and their children.
To her McCorquodale family, Mom loved the annual family picnic! She truly enjoyed seeing her aunts, uncles, cousins and all of their families each August. She passed that along to us and sadly COVID has interrupted the streak of consecutive picnics. Even with her failing health, she was disappointed that it couldn’t happen again this year. She did enjoy her weekend visit with her siblings that we hosted in lieu of the annual picnic.
Mom loved hosting many backyard parties over the years to keep our family as well as the extended family together. She took great pride in showing off her beautiful garden and sharing it with family and friends. It truly is a wonderful extension of the house and very comfortable setting to visit or just hang out. Mom’s love of hosting parties went well beyond the backyard and the house. She loved to organize social events at skating competitions as well as many other volunteer jobs. Her resume is extensive!
Mom is one of the founding members of the Oakville Sports Hall of Fame. She was inducted herself as a builder in 2015.
She was the business manager for NEXXICE, a senior synchronized skating team in Burlington that became the first Canadian ISU Champions, World Champions & world silver medallists during her tenure along with 6 national titles.
The world championship earned members of the team to be honoured by Skate Canada in their hall of fame. In 2015, she joined the Alumni Committee with Skate Canada to attract and retain former champions from all disciplines to stay connected and enjoy figure skating events in retirement.
Mom also held roles as President of the Oakville Skating Club and sat on numerous committees with the Town of Oakville like Parks & Recreation and Traffic to help guide and form what Oakville has become. She also was a fixture at many polling stations through Municipal, Provincial and Federal elections over the years. Something that her organizational and people skills shone through.
Her joy of skating was passed on to her children. In 1994, while on the Oakville Adult Synchronized Skating team with Leanne and Laura, they won a bronze medal at the National Championships with the “Bride” Program. She also became a Senior Level Synchronized Skating judge which she had to balance with her manager duties for NEXXICE. To all of the skaters on the teams that she managed & younger judges, she was their “Rink Mom”. In June of this year, Mom was surprised by Skate Ontario & Skate Canada when she was awarded with the designation of “Honorary Official”. Skate Ontario held a wonderful “Zoom” celebration where over 50 people shared stories and raised a glass to this wonderful achievement. In May of last year, Mom was awarded the Elizabeth Swan Memorial Award from Skate Canada in recognition of her dedication and contribution to the discipline of synchronised skating in Canada.
With all of her years with NEXXICE, and Leanne skating on the team in the early years, Mom and Dad got the travel bug. They travelled to many countries with great friends. Even when Dad couldn’t travel anymore, Mom travelled to Mexico and NYC on a mother/daughter trip; she went on an Alaskan Cruise, China Adventure and South East-Asian Cruise with her sister Ruth; Vancouver to the Grand Prix Final with Laura, she volunteered at Canada House with Leanne in Pyeongchang, South Korea for the 2018 Olympic Games. One of the best mother/daughter excursions was to the Vancouver 2010 Olympics as spectators. Mom traveled to Florida often with Mike’s family and Leanne to enjoy the time that Mom and Dad wanted for us to continue vacationing as a family. Mike keeps us organised and we will continue the tradition of traveling together to Florida in the future.
Dad used to call Mom the “Energizer Bunny”. She was a nighthawk to be sure and always seemed to be on the go. Most of her adult life, she worked full time (Purina, Sheridan College, Hugh McMillan Rehab Centre) and volunteered full time. She was extremely organized. As kids, she was also our taxi service!
Mom was a cancer survivor. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1982. She beat it! At least until 2017 when she was diagnosed with myelofibrosis which was a rare form of bone marrow cancer that interrupts the normal production of blood cells. She fought a good fight and certainly didn’t show the doctor’s the normal progression that they were accustomed to. A true volunteer, she participated in a group study at Princess Margaret Hospital in order for doctors to better understand the disease and to help others in the future. While many of us are tired of COVID and the restrictions that came with the pandemic, mask wearing and stay-at-home orders actually helped Mom because of how compromised her immune system became.
Sandy Fritz, there are no words to express how much Mom valued her friendship and support. They shared the common love of synchronized skating and that continued well after both had hung up their volunteering. Coffee was a daily joy for them. They met at Tim Horton’s for years with several others in the “coffee group”. Sheila, Kaz & Fred joined them and started Mom’s day off right each morning. This transformed in the pandemic to being coffee at Mom’s & Sandy would pick up at McDonald’s drive-thru and they continued their visits right down to almost her last day.
Mom loved everything sport. She always enjoyed golf and while she wasn’t always able to play, she did enjoy her ladies league over the years. Figure skating was truly her passion but she was also active with Mike & Dad’s hockey teams. Mom passed on her love of detective shows (and now that Leanne has lived with her during the pandemic, has Leanne hooked on them too).
Given COVID restrictions and social distancing requirements, we will be holding visitation at Kopriva-Taylor Community Funeral Home on Tuesday, August 24th 5-8 pm and Wednesday, August 25th 10-12. A funeral service will be held at Kopriva-Taylor at 1:30 by invitation due to space limitations. A virtual link will be available for those who are unable to attend.
Donations can be made in her name to the Canadian Cancer Society, Jump Start or Canadian Blood Services. We encourage anyone who is eligible to donate blood in her honour and smile knowing someone like our Mom received their generous gift.
Cancer.ca
jumpstart.canadiantire.ca/
Blood.ca
Love you always Mom xx
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Frances Ann McLellan August 11 1939 August 17 2021..
Kopriva Taylor Community Funeral Home
Death notice for the town of: Oakville, Province: Ontario
To the family, and especially to Leanne, my condolences on the passing of Fran, the skating “super mom”. Fran never wavered when there was a job to be done, and executed the job to its ultimate completion. I have many memories of Fran, travelling with Nexxice and volunteering at Skate Canada events. I always knew she would show up somewhere during those marathon events. Heaven has gained the ultimate angel.