Phoebe Anne Magee (nee Freeman) 1920- 2017
At Saint John, New Brunswick on April 21st, in her 97th year with her
loving daughters Willa (Ed Cayer) and Margot (Lee Sackett) by her
side. Predeceased by her beloved husband Allan and son Brian, she is
survived by her half-brother Claude Freeman, her grandchildren Luke
(Marie Eriksson) and Christiane, step-grandchildren Andrew and Tara
and great-grandchildren Sebastian, Max, Henry, Tilja, Ina, and her
extended family.
Born in Vancouver on October 27, 1920, Phoebe grew up in Montreal and
was educated at Trafalgar School for Girls and King’s Hall,
Compton. She studied art at Sir George Williams College early in the
Second World War before joining the RCAF Women’s Division and
was posted overseas as an Intelligence officer with #6 RCAF Bomber
Group in Yorkshire. Allan was in the Royal Canadian Regiment and they
were married in a little church near the bomber station in 1944.
Only after the war—and three children—did she start to paint
again which she continued to do into her 90s. A committed volunteer
all her life, her proudest accomplishment, along with Allan and a
small group of friends, was the founding of the Kitchener-Waterloo Art
Gallery which recently celebrated its 60th anniversary. When they
moved from Montreal to Saint Andrews in the late 1960s her own
painting revolved around the town’s early architecture. She and
her first friend in Saint Andrews, Sandy Smith, both founding members
of the Saint Andrews Civic Trust wrote and illustrated The Saint
Andrews Heritage Handbook, which is still in use. Many years later she
had great fun with Shirley Downie illustrating her children’s
book of poetry for the Born to Read programme.
Always a wide-ranging reader she was chairman of the Ross Memorial
Library. She was a co-founder of the Fundy Community Foundation and
Hospice of Charlotte and chair or board member of many other organiza-
tions including the New Brunswick Museum as their first female
president. In 2017, she was the recipient of the
Governor-General’s Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers.
Above all, Phoebe was a wonderful and inspirational wife, mother
and grandmother; bright, engaged, warm, generous and strong through
good times as well as sad ones. Greatly loved by her family, she also
kept the friends of her childhood and continued to make new ones of
all ages throughout her long life. Always living in the present, she
relished a lively discussion about what was happening in the world.
She loved to travel, learn new things, serve her community and enjoy
each day as it came especially if it included a walk around “the
Point”, no matter what the weather, with her wonderful friends
in the walking group.
The family would like to thank Dr. Lesley Pinder, Dr. Sayeda Mohiuddin
and Dr. Julia Wildish for their care and concern for Mum over the
years. Many thanks to all the staff and residents at Parkland Saint
John for their many kindnesses.
A memorial service will be held at All Saints Anglican Church, King
Street, Saint Andrews on Wednesday, April 26th at 2:00 pm. Reception
at the Anglican Church Hall following the memorial service.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Fundy Community
Foundatioon (Brian Eric Magee Fund) 45 Elizabeth Street, Saint
Andrews, New Brunswick, E5B 3S7 or to the charity of your choice
Nos plus sincères sympathies à la famille et aux amis de Phoebe Anne Magee.source
avis deces Phoebe Anne Magee- avis mortuaire Phoebe Anne Magee