MACDONALD, Mary Joan MacDonald

MACDONALD, Mary Joan (nee SANFORD)  –

1925 – 2023

In her 99th year, she passed quietly on a Monday morning, with all the dignity that she lived with.

Daughter to Daisy (nee Ettinger) and Lawson Sanford of Walton, Nova Scotia.

The eldest of 10, Joan is survived by sisters, Verbena, Vera and Nadean.

She was predeceased by siblings, Stella, Reg, Albro, Janis, Garfield (Bunny) and Charles. As a young woman, Joan moved to Halifax and became a legal secretary.

In 1950, she was wed to David MacDonald of Halifax, and devoted herself to being a supportive wife (to an often-travelling writer) and mother (Vincent). Divorce followed a separation in Ottawa in 1979.

Joan reestablished her career as a legal secretary in Toronto.

She embraced her family and friends, enjoyed her home, and shared it with exchange students, who became very dear to her.

A daytime visitor would likely find CPAC on the TV. Perhaps her most enjoyed role was as adoring grandmother to Heather, Sandra, Laura, Sam, Grace, Jordan; and great-grandmother to Kaiya. To them, she served as a shining example of an intelligent, capable, refined woman – a role model of the highest order.

Remarkably, she was able to stay in her home, living independently until just months before her passing.

TorontoObituaries.com

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