Our beloved Auntie Donna, as she was widely known by family and friends alike, died on 18 February 2022, a few weeks after her 93rd birthday.
Donna Mavis Crooks was born in 1929 in Moncton, N.B, the second child of Annie Mae (nee Killeen) and Joseph Peter Crook. Donna was pre-deceased by her older brother Edwin, younger sister Barbara Graham and nephew Peter Crook. She is survived by her younger brother Farrell, devoted nieces and nephews and their families. She was cherished by her family for being the family historian, her non-judgmental, quiet disposition, her story telling and good humor.
Donna was raised in Toronto, educated at St. Cecilia’s Catholic School, Loretto College and Shaw Business School. She was employed as a trusted secretary in the early 1950s at a small firm that operated the Cork Room, a busy watering hole for brokers and traders from the nearby Toronto Stock Exchange. At one of her downtown job sites, she made the news when firefighters rescued her from a blazing office, one of them carrying her over his shoulder down an extension ladder. She found quieter employment in the executive offices at Imperial Oil until she took early retirement in the 1980s.
Donna loved to travel, hitch-hiking through France in the early 50s with a high school girlfriend and later travelling throughout Europe, Israel and Kenya with family and friends. She admired the British Royal family and attended one of Her Majesty’s Garden Parties at Buckingham Palace.
She lived quietly in the same apartment in North York from the mid-1970s, volunteering for many years at the Good Shepherd Refuge, keeping in touch with life-long friends and regularly attending family gatherings right up to last Christmas.
Donna was deeply grateful for the excellent care provided by the team at the Marvelle Koffler Breast Centre, Mount Sinai Hospital, LHIN Homecare Services and Hennick Bridgepoint Hospital that allowed her to live her life independently and on her own terms throughout the last chapter of her life.
We loved our Auntie Donna very much and will miss her more than words can say. A celebration of her life is planned for April.
If you wish, donations can be made to Donna’s favourite charities: SEVA International , Good Shepherd Ministries , Salvation Army ; Mount Sinai Hospital
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Donna Mavis Crooks 2022..
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Death notice for the town of: Toronto, Province: Ontario