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Annie Laurie MacDonald
April 11, 1934 – February 13, 2024
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Annie Laurie MacDonald passed away peacefully in Dunedin, Florida, on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024.
Born on April 11, 1934, in Judique, the fifth of six children, Annie Laurie learned her gentle manner, kindness and hospitality from her mother, Mary Anne Gillis. She inherited her curiosity and love of people and books from her father, Hugh John MacLellan.
Neighbours were like family to the MacLellans. Like her father before her, Annie could trace the genealogy of every household in Judique for several generations. She understood that you “step to the door” to say hello. If someone dies, you make food and drop it off. And if the dead is a neighbour’s relative who lived away, you put money in an envelope and deliver it.
Like many young people in Cape Breton in the 1950s, Annie left home to find work in Boston. There, she met Sandy MacDonald at one of Bill Lamey’s dances. It was her cousin Cathy Campbell who encouraged her to accept the attentions of this dark-haired, shy young man from Cape Breton.
Sandy had left his Mull River home at 17 and arrived in Boston in 1955 by way of the logging camps on Vancouver Island.
Theirs was a union that was the defining act of their lives.
They married on October 8, 1960, in St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Port Colborne, Ont.
They started their family in Boston, where Sandy became an electrician.
They schooled their four girls in the ways of Cape Breton, and every summer Sandy drove her and the girls Downeast to spend it with her parents in Judique.
Like her father, Annie loved politics, especially the personalities. She followed the travails of the Kennedys, sympathized with the Johnsons and appreciated the decency of the Carters.
She was disappointed to lose her first vote in Canada when Pierre Elliott Trudeau lost (briefly) to Joe Clark in 1979.
She read a daily newspaper and biographies — she didn’t have time for fiction. The Queen and the Queen Mother were personal heroes, and she was delighted to reach Buckingham Palace and the gates of Balmoral on her one and only overseas trip.
She adored nice clothes and jewelry and made countless trips in town to Filene’s basement with sister-in-law Catherine MacLellan. Her last words of advice to the daughter she thought too careful were “Buy something new.”
In 1978, the family moved to Cape Breton and for the next 10 years Sandy operated a service station in Judique.
Their new home was as welcoming as the one in which she grew up. In the summertime, a stream of visitors came through the blue door on River Denys Road daily. Her brother Duncan once quipped that sitting in their den was like taking a seat in Grand Central Station.
More than their own grandchildren knew them as Nana and Papa, and they remained so long after the “adoptees” had children of their own.
All grandchildren were taught the same lessons of faith, family, and neighbour first.
But the gentle woman who gave you her full attention on the sofa was a boss lady behind the scenes. She was in the flour barrel early. She loved a full line of laundry – but never on a Sunday – a clean house and a stacked woodpile.
Since Sandy’s retirement they have spent nearly every winter in Florida.
In 2012, Annie was diagnosed with cancer. Her prognosis was grim. She underwent rigorous treatments, but her faith never wavered. Through a miracle, she was declared cancer free and surpassed the expectation of any doctor or specialist.
This past January, little more than a week after arriving in Dunedin, Annie went into hospital. Nonetheless, she told the doctor her plan: celebrate her 90th birthday with family in Port Colborne and then home to Judique.
She fought to make it happen. She and Sandy prayed for it to happen, while trusting in God’s will.
Sometime before dawn, on Feb. 13, Annie died in her sleep.
Sandy survives her as do their four girls: Sandra Graham, Dedham, Mass.; Louise (Jamie) MacIsaac, Judique, N.S.; Janice (Douglas) Campbell, Port Colborne, Ont.; and Jo-Anne MacDonald, Toronto, Ont.
Son-in-law Stanley Graham predeceased her as did grandchild Meggie Jean MacIsaac.
They have 10 surviving grandchildren: Jenny (Trevor) Curry, Timothy (Suzanne) MacIsaac, Elizabeth MacIsaac, Katherine (Stephen) Walker, Duncan (Jenelle) MacIsaac, Sarah (Dylan) MacIsaac, Andrew (Kelsey) Campbell, Emily (Don) Sawyer, Alexander (Emily) Campbell and Madeline Campbell.
She was adored by their 10 great grandchildren: Malcolm, Meggie, Annie Kate, Jack, Hugh Sandy, Jax, Breton, Louis, Charlie, and Nora.
Annie Laurie was predeceased by siblings Jean MacDonald, Margaret McEachern, Allan MacLellan, and Barbara MacDonald.
Duncan MacLellan is the last surviving member of the family.
Visitation will be held at the Judique Fire Hall from 2 p.m. until 7 p.m. on Friday, March 1.
A funeral mass will be held at 11 a.m. on March 2 at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church, where Annie was baptized and a faithful parishioner for the past 46 years. Fr. Allan MacMillan will officiate.
A video of the Funeral Mass will be available later in the day on March 2, 2024. A link will be posted at the top of this announcement as well as to Green’s Funeral Home Facebook Page
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Andrew’s Parish cemetery fund, 5480 Rte. 19, Judique, N.S., B0E 1P0
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SERVICES
Visitation
Friday, March 1, 2024
2:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Community Room of the Judique Fire Department
30 River Dennys Road
Judique, NS B0E1P0
Funeral Service
Saturday, March 2, 2024
11:00 AM
St. Andrew Roman Catholic Church
5486 Highway 19
Judique, NS B0E1P0
April 11 1934 February 13 2024
Death notice for the town of: Port-Hawkesbury, Province: Nova Scotia
death notice Annie Laurie MacDonald April 11 1934 February 13 2024
obituaries notice Annie Laurie MacDonald April 11 1934 February 13 2024
We offer our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Annie Laurie MacDonald April 11 1934 February 13 2024 and hope that their memory may be a source of comfort during this difficult time. Your thoughts and kind words are greatly appreciated.
