Date de Décès: 2008-03-18
Date de Parution: 2008-03-23
Source: The Chronicle Herald, Halifax, NS
CAMPBELL (Ross), Mary Chrysostom CAMPBELL (Ross), Mary Chrysostom - January 27, 1913 - March 18, 2008, of Halifax. It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Mary Campbell peacefully on March 18, 2008, in Melville Gardens. Born in Inverness, Cape Breton, she was the only daughter of the late William J. "The Boss" Ross (1963) and Elizabeth "Bessie" "Mummo" Anne (MacDonald, 1976), of Antigonish. She is survived by her brothers, Alexander Rory, Antigonish; William Joseph, Kamloops; Edmund St. Clair Ross, North Vancouver; daughter, Elizabeth Marie MacLean, Halifax; sons, Ian Kenneth Alexander, Toronto, and Donald Douglas, Ottawa. Mary was also lovingly named "Grand Mary" or "Sitti Mary" by her grandchildren, Elizabeth Skode, Helen MacLean, Kathryn Dunn, Philip, Michael, and Patrick Dunn, Alison Edwards and Gretchen Rohani, Anthony, Gregory, Alexander, Stuart, Colin, Donald, and James Campbell. Mary has several nieces and nephews and was pleased to have met many of her 17 great-grandchildren. Mary was predeceased by brother, Sgt. Douglas Alexander Ross RCAF (1943), and Donald MacDonald Ross (1976) (Antigonish). She lost her loving husband, Joseph Hayes Campbell (Fairview) in 1974, followed by her eldest son, William J. Ross Campbell (Swaziland) in 1990, and second daughter, Claire Maureen (Ottawa) in 2002. A long-time member of the Catholic Women's League, Mary's commitment to her faith included raising funds to build St. Catherine of Sienna Church in Halifax. Raised in Antigonish, Mary was an avid skater, painter, and pianist in her youth. She attended Mount St. Bernard Academy and St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish where she was doted on as "Madame Queen" by her father and brothers before marrying her strapping young RCMP officer, Joe, with whom she lived across the province on various postings before settling in Halifax. A fabulous baker, Mary's favorite things became ours and included rhubarb pie, apple pie, "a nice glass of sherry", a cup of tea, reading, the Montreal Canadiens, CBC TV News, Labrador retrievers, cats, and muttering the odd Gaelic expression when things weren't going her way. We who remember her are grateful for her wonderful baking, her sense of duty to family (she provided room and board to friends and family on Bayers Road for 60 years), and her ability to keep us all humble no matter what we thought of ourselves. A memorial service will be held in late August at St. Catherine of Sienna Church, 6466 Bayers Rd. in Halifax, at a date to be determined later, followed by interment in Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Halifax. Special thanks to the staff of Melville Gardens who made Mary so comfortable and carefree, and thanks to Ken Barnard and T.K. Barnard Funeral Home, Bedford, for their generosity and kindness. A voracious reader, Mary developed cataracts late in life that robbed her of her precious ability to read. In lieu of flowers and in Mary's memory, you may chose to donate to the Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation and earmark your donation for eye research: www.dmrf.ca or 1-A1 Sir Charles Tupper Medical Building, 5850 College St., Halifax, NS B3H 4H7. On-line condolences can be made by visiting: www.mem.com