Apr 22, 2018
Mae died peacefully in her sleep at home in Qualicum Beach, age 85, due to complications from an accident. On March 21st, 2018, Mae went to her Tai chi class for an hour in the AM, then drove home. She then worked her garden and yard for a couple of hours. At about 3 PM in the afternoon, Mae was in the front flower bed and lost her balance and landed on the driveway fracturing her right hip. This fall knocked the sails out of her. In 2014, Mae broke her left hip in a hiking accident when she tripped over a tree root, here, she bounced back very quickly. The family would like to give an appreciative thank you to Dr. Cobus Smith of Nanaimo Hospital and his medical team for repairing both fractures.
After her first hip injury, Mae continued to live an energetic active lifestyle. She traveled to Palm Beach, FL for two winter trips, a trip to Hawaii and just this February 2018 to London, UK and south of Spain where she was able to walk up to two hours per day pain free. She had amazing walking endurance even steep climbs up hill as recently noted at Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain. She was a Super Senior at Mt. Washington for downhill skiing and last skied at age 80.
Born in Vegreville, Alberta during the depression, Mae grew up mostly on a farm. She then attended UBC graduating in 1956 with a degree in Phys Ed. Married in 1957 in White Rock, BC to then RCAF pilot Sidney, they were married for 57 years until Sid passed on four years ago . Her marriage took Mae on an adventure as Sid pursued a career in aerospace marketing. Mae lived in Sherman Oaks, California for 11 years and in Toronto for 33 years. She was a member of the University of Women's Club of Los Angeles and Toronto.
Mae was a volunteer at North York General Hospital - Toronto and at Milner Gardens in Qualicum. Mae loved playing bridge, enjoyed walking / hiking, cottage life in Ontario, camping in California, dancer in L.A. in small live performances, tennis and skiing. While in Toronto, Mae also worked as an extra in many TV shows and movies including Police Academy, Youngblood, etc. She also spent numerous years painting in water colours. Mae took pride in her organic garden and attending to the grounds of her home in Qualicum.
Finally, she was certainly not shy about expressing her opinions on the current events of the day. We will miss her laugh and big heart of gold.
Mae is survived by her son Michael of Ft. Lauderdale, FL and son Matthew of West Palm Beach, FL, three grandchildren, three great grandkids, sister's Agnes (Vancouver) & Lorraine (White Rock) and brother David (Mission).
A family get together is planned in the near term to celebrate the wonderful life that Mae experienced.