Obituary of Mary Margaret Saunders

Peacefully, on Sunday, April 29, 2012 in Ottawa, surrounded by her family, after a brief illness. Born May 14, 1919 in Sydney Nova Scotia to the late Katherine (Merchant) Bauer and John Henry (Harry) Bauer. Predeceased by her husband of 47 years, J. Wilfred Saunders (1992) and their infant daughter Catherine Mae (1963); and by her brothers Owen (Sydney, NS), Cyril (Antigonish, NS), Merchant (Antigonish, NS) and sister Barbara (Brophy) (New Glasgow, NS). Survived by her children, Marilyn (Ron Metcalfe) (Hudson, QC), Owen (Calgary, AB), Robert (Dianne Phillips) (Fort Langley, BC), Ron (Ottawa, ON), Eileen (Ross Hastings) (Ottawa, ON), Phillip (Jennifer Barr) (Halifax, NS) and Richard (Toronto, ON); her grandchildren Laurie Metcalfe (Montreal, QC), Erin Metcalfe (Hudson, QC), Michael, Keith, David and Mary Saunders (Fort Langley, BC), Emma, Kate and Patrick Saunders-Hastings (Ottawa, ON), Tessa and Mark Saunders (Halifax, NS) and Owen Saunders (Ottawa, ON); great-grandchildren Zoe and Jasmine Dorcas (Hudson, QC); her sister Catherine Kenny (Oakville, ON); and 22 nieces and nephews. She was raised and educated in Sydney, NS where she met her husband, a marine biologist. After the completion of his graduate studies, they settled with their family in St. Andrews, NB where he worked as a research scientist for the Fisheries Research Board. She was an active, enthusiastic and widely respected member of her community over an extended period, serving as the town’s first female town Councillor and Deputy Mayor, and as a member of several community service organisations, trusts and committees, including the founding board of the Ross Memorial Library, the Dunn Scholarship Committee and the Catholic Women’s League. She was valued for her integrity, tolerance, humour, wisdom and common sense, and maintained a wide and diverse circle of friendships. For the past two decades she divided her time between Ottawa, St. Andrews and Freeport, The Bahamas, where she developed another circle of close and caring friends. Above all, she was devoted to her ever-growing family. She never forgot a birthday, anniversary, graduation or other individual accomplishment and occasion, and was cherished for her thoughtfulness and kindness throughout her extended family. For several decades she travelled extensively in Canada and abroad to be with them, which required her to overcome an acute fear of flying. This included numerous trips to Europe, and visits to Africa and the South Pacific. She was a keen, curious and adventurous traveller who was undeterred by unforeseen circumstances … whether this involved walking the streets of Paris with a broken ankle, or narrowly avoiding a stampede of wildebeests while on safari in Zimbabwe at the age of 75. In later years, when she could not travel as easily, she enthusiastically and skillfully took to computers and the internet as a means of keeping up with family, friends, news and bridge. She maintained to the end an abiding curiosity, a deeply generous spirit and a profound concern for the welfare of others. The family will receive friends at the St. Andrew Catholic Church King St. in St. Andrews, NB on Thursday, May 3 at 6:00-9:00pm. A Catholic funeral mass will be held at 11:00am on Friday, May 4 in the church. If desired and in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Canadian Diabetic Association, the CNIB or other charitable organization. Online condolences may be made at www.humphreysfh.com.Arrangements are under the care and direction of Humphreys Funeral Home 20 Marks Street St.Stephen N.B. E3L 2B2 506-466-3110.