Rita Pearl MacFarlane
1918-2021
Rita Pearl MacFarlane (nee McInnis) passed away peacefully in
her home on August 10, 2021 in the company of some of her children
while listening to her favorite music just two days after her 103rd
birthday.
Born in Moncton in 1918, just as WWI was ending, Mom was one
of nine children of Benjamin and Elizabeth McInnis. She attended
Moncton High School where she met Douglas MacFarlane. He boldly asked
if he could carry her badminton racket after a game at St.
Bernard’s Church gymnasium. She refused but allowed him to
walk her home. Nearly a decade later, in 1943, they married and went
on to build a happy life together including a family of twelve
children, 25 grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren. Douglas
MacFarlane, Q.C. became a prominent Moncton lawyer.
Mom had an eventful life. She trained and worked as a nurse
in Halifax during WWII with the U-boats outside the harbour. She lived
through pandemics, wars, the Great Depression, global recessions, and
tectonic advancements in every science and social endeavor. She
embraced it all. Once in her 90s, she responded to a question:
“Just a minute, I’m rebooting my
I-Pad.”
But Mom’s greatest test was truly daunting. When
Dad was only 52 years of age, he had a major stroke that left him
unable to speak and paralyzed on his right side. Mom cared for him at
home while also raising 10 children. She kept everything intact, home
and cottage; children went to university, if they wished; she fed,
clothed and raised them all. All this without a driver’s
licence or a job. The parable of the loaves and fishes comes to mind.
Mom and Dad remained close and loving for the next 17 years before he
passed. Mom met every challenge with love, grace, courage and dignity
guided by her deep spiritual beliefs and faith. She was a long
standing member of the C.W.L at the Holy Family Roman Catholic
Church.
Beautiful at every stage of her life, with electric blue eyes
and a lively smile; she claimed that putting on her lipstick in the
morning made her feel happy and ready for whatever the day had in
store. Ever positive and optimistic, full of fun with a hint of
mischief, Mom was a magnetic personality. She was an empathic listener
and never forgot a detail someone shared. She was also an entertaining
storyteller full of interesting information and opinion. Children
flocked to her because she listened and spoke to them with true
understanding and affection. Mom always knew exactly what every one of
her many grandchildren and great-grandchildren wanted as a
present.
Mom had a strong sense of community and civic duty. She voted
in every election including the last provincial election. At 102, she
was vaccinated against COVID. She said to the nurse administering the
vaccine: “If something is going to keep you and others
safe, why wouldn’t you take it?” Mom was also
interested in sports. As a younger woman she was a talented curler
having an eight ender game, and was a Past President of the
Women’s Division of the Beaver Curling Club. In her
seventies, some of her sons introduced her to cross country skiing,
learning to ride a bike, and riding on the back of a motorcycle. In
her later years, she became an avid fan of the Blue Jays and
Raptors.
Although her favorite place was Cassie Cape where she has had
a cottage for over fifty years, Mom also loved to travel with her
children and with Dad, even after the stroke. She was keen to
experience other cultures and perspectives and travelled around North
America, to Greece, England, Mexico, Hawaii, Germany, and even to the
Gaza Strip during the height of the Intifada. She was fearless and
loved adventure.
Mom was predeceased by her son Ian, her daughter Myriam, her
great-granddaughter Maeve Sampson, her brothers James and George
McInnis and her sisters Eileen Govang, Emma Pisani, Lillian Belliveau,
Eleanor Campbell, and Alice Fitzgerald. She is survived by her sister,
Marjorie LeBlanc and many nieces and nephews who maintained regular
contact with Mom over the years.
Mom’s surviving children are Douglas (Anne),
Waterdown, ON; Robert (Maria), Oakville, ON; Heather Dupuis, (Paul),
Moncton, NB; Colin (Treva Jeffries), Northport, NS; Christine, (Edward
Possberg), PE; Bruce, Moncton, NB; Geralyn (Don Allison), Moncton, NB;
Hugh (Maureen), Oakville, ON; Andrew (Katherine), Calgary, AB; Andrea
Rafferty (Shawn), Moncton, NB. Mom has 25 grandchildren and 25
surviving great-grandchildren.
Mom will be dearly missed by her friend Theresa Gillespie
whom shared many good times.
The family would like to thank Bayshore Health Care staff for
the support they gave Mom before the Covid pandemic and the extramural
nurses who visited Mom with such kindness and
care.
A visitation will be held on September 8, 6:00 –
8:00 at Tuttle Brothers Funeral Home, 214 Pine Glen Rd, Riverview, NB.
The following day, September 9, at 11:00, Father Phil Mulligan will
offer a Funeral Mass at Holy Family Church, 11 Cavendish Rd,
Moncton.
Interment will be held at Our Lady of Calvary
Roman Catholic Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made to the Heart and
Stoke Foundation or to a charity of your choice.
Mom’s favorite expression was: “Life in small
moments perfect be.”
Arrangements have been entrusted to Tuttle Brothers &
Riverview Funeral Home 214 Pine Glen Rd. Riverview, NB (506)
857-9544
Online condolences can be made
at www.tuttlefuneralhome.ca
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Rita Pearl MacFarlane 19182021..
Death notice for the town of: Riverview, Province: Nouveau-Brunswick