>Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2005 09:56:22 -0700 >From: [email protected] (Carol MacLean) >Source: [email protected] >Subject: February 14, 2005 Deaths > > >Cape Breton Deaths February 14, 2005 <snip> >MARY (ROSS) MACLEOD - 96 - South West Margaree/Dominion - Today, family and >friends mourn the death of Mary R. MacLeod, who died peacefully on February >10, 2005 aat the Cape Breton Healthcare Complex in Glace Bay. Mary R. was >born in Maryvale, Antigonish County on October 22, 1908, to Penelope >MacDonald and Colin Francis Ross. Her mother died when she was two years >old. From the age of two unitl she was five, she was cared for by her >father and the Sisters of St. Martha. When she was five, Mary R. and her >older brother, Colin Hugh, were moved to South West Margaree, where they >were fostered by Annie R. and Allan MacDonald. Later they were joined by >their younger brother Alex (Rev. A.A. Ross). While the children were >growing up, their father joined the priesthood and later served in the >Diocese of Calgary before returning to Maryvale. Mary R. attended Captain >Allan's School in South West Margaree/ She Completed her high school >education at Mount Saint Bernard, and in 1929, she graduated from Saint >Francis Xavier with her Bachelor of Arts Degree. She was one of eight >women to receive degrees that year, six of whom came from Cape Breton. As >a student, she wrote poetry for the Mount Saint Bernard newspaper >"Memorare". Mary R. delighted in the ways of words. She had a poetic >sensibility and a particular facility with language. She was a native >Gaelic speaker, fluent in English, converant in French and scholarly in >Latin, and for good measure, a whiz in mathematics. She was also a wise >and faithful (some would say formidable) teacher, whose career, beginning >in 1930, extended from the villages of Northern Quebec, to the one-room >schoolhouses on shore roads of Inverness County, to the schools of the >County of Cape Breton. In her later career, Mary R. was no longer the >wandering scholar, but settled down to the sedentary business of writing >texts in algebra, geometry, Latin and French. At the same time, she was >also a member of the CWL, a dedicated bingo player and a joyful dancer. >But teaching and writing texts tell only part of the story of this >remarkable women. She lived on farms in South West Margaree and St. Rose >and was equally adept at digging potatoes, shovelling snow, or kneading >bread. A friend once remarked that Mary R. could squeeze taste from a >boiled stone. She was right. Over the years, Mary R. nourished many >tastes and many friends, especially the women of "the Club", who met every >week for cards, conversation and cookies. She lived a full and prayerful >life. In the last few years of her life at home in Dominion, Mary R. was >wonderfully cared for by Delores LeBlanc and Edie MacPherson of Dominion >and VON staff. Mary R. is survived by her daughters Ann Bridget and Mary >K. MacLeod, of Dominion, her son Allan (Donna Chauder) and her two >grand-daughters Allison and Melanie MacLeod, of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and >her kindred spirit, Frances Tessier of Sydney. Mary R. is also survived by >her long-time friend, and sister-in-law Ella (Galagher) Ross, nieces >Margaret and Penny Ross, and Mary Ross Carson (Gerald R. Hopper), >grandnieces and nephews, Craig, Carolyn and Derek Carson, David and Megan >Hooper, all of Ottawa. Mary R. was predeceased by her husband Bernard >"Barney" MacLeod of St. Rose and Dominion, her mother Penelope MacDonald, >her father Rev. C.F. Ross and her two brothers Colin Hugh Ross, and >Rev.A.A. Ross. She was also predeceased by her foster parents, Annie R. >and Allan MacDonald. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of >Curry's Funeral Home, Glace Bay. Visitation is today (Monday) from 2-4 & >7-9 pm. Funeral mass will be at 2 pm on Tuesday February 15, 2005 at >Immaculate Conception Church, Dominion, with Rev. J. Oliver officiating. >Donations may be made to Immaculate Conception Parish Cemtery Fund or to a >charity of one's choice. ><snip>