TYNDALL, Lillian 'Mary' (Harpur) - The family of Mary Tyndall is saddened to share the news of her peaceful passing in her 91st year on Friday, December 11, 2020.
Mary was born in Toronto on September 18, 1930 to George and Frances (nee McFadden) Harpur, and was the second in a family of four girls.
At the age of 14, she started her first job as a switchboard operator at Canada Bread, and later moved on to working at the Canadian National Express.
In 1955, Mary was chosen to represent Toronto on the inaugural run of the Supercontinental Train with the title of Miss Supercontinental (a story she downplayed but the rest of the family loved to hear).
Like many of her generation, Mary worked at home raising and caring for her family. She was the beloved mother and friend to Jeffrey (predeceased, 1992), David (Cheryl), Nancy (Kevin Brown) and Karen.
After the purchase of the family cottage in 1969, Mary spent her summers there with the four children while Ron worked and came up on the weekends. Without a car, phone (for the first few years), swimming skills, or modern conveniences, the children knew little of the fears and challenges she faced as they spent relaxing carefree summers in the outdoors.
After all her chicks had left the nest, Mary worked outside of the home until embracing her next exciting role, that of grandmother. She was the cherished Nana of Jeffrey (Marie) and Cameron, Lauren (Dan) and Matthew, and Hollis and Davyn. The grandchildren have such fond memories of times spent with their Nana and all the special things she did for them.
Last year she was absolutely thrilled to become a great-grandmother to little Indiana and to be able to meet her at Christmas.
Mary was predeceased by her older sister Kay and is fondly remembered by her loving sisters Gloria and Nancy, who although far apart, kept in regular contact to share personal stories, news and family updates. Aunt Mary will also be missed by many loving nieces and nephews and their families both here and overseas. Mary made many friends along the way who will miss the lengthy telephone calls to catch up on the latest happenings.
In her passing, Mom has left a lasting legacy. Through her generosity she has bestowed upon us many gifts, most importantly those of integrity, honesty, fairness, kindness and a deep sense of family (along with a little sarcasm and wit).
It was an honour to have her as our Mom and Nana, and a privilege to have been able to spend so many years making memories with her. We will miss her dearly but will hold her closely in our hearts forever.
The family would like to send their heartfelt thanks to the entire Palliative Team at Scarborough General Hospital and in particular, Dr. Abdulhussein for his kind, caring manner, Nurses Maryann and Brenda for going above and beyond in comforting the family, and Grace from Spiritual Care for reaching out with support and facilitating communication during challenging times. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the SHN Foundation as they always provided Mom with wonderful care.
Due to COVID restrictions, the visitation and funeral services will be held privately by invitation only. While the family wishes you could all be with them in their time of loss, they appreciate your kind words and condolences.
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