Obituary of Veronica MacLeod

Veronica MacLeod (nee Fitzpatrick) of Calgary passed away on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 at the age of 86 years. Veronica was born in Accrington, Lancashire, United Kingdom where she attended Paddock House Convent School for Girls. She was an excellent student who was usually top of her class, winning prizes in many subjects. After leaving school she passed the Civil Service exams and became a Telephone Operator for the General Post Office in London. During World War II she served in the Royal Air Force from May 1942 to March 1946. After the war she attended Teacher’s College, completing a two-year program in one year, while simultaneously getting married and having a baby, then embarked on a Teaching career that would last over thirty years. She had itchy feet and a spirit of adventure that led her to leave her beloved England and immigrate to Canada as a single mother with a six year old child. She taught in a one-room school house near Innisfail and in Kapuskasing, ON before returning to the United Kingdom for a brief period in 1954. Again she immigrated to Canada, accepting a teaching position with what was then known as the Department of Indian Affairs in Moose Factory, ON. In 1957 she moved to Montreal, QC where she was employed by the PSBGM for many years teaching at Lachine Rapids and Verdun High School. During this period she studied at SGWU (now Concordia) and proudly graduated with a BA when she was fifty-three. At the age of fifty-four, she learned to drive; this was the same year she became a grandmother. Veronica was a free spirit who never concerned herself with possessions or financial planning. She loved to travel with her young daughter in tow and working with a shoe-string budget, they went to England, France, Italy, Switzerland, Mexico, the Bahamas, and almost every state and province in North America. She took each of her grandsons on special trips to Disneyland and Santa Fe, NM. In 1977, she retired then accompanied Melanie and Dave to a new life in Calgary. She kept busy in retirement, looking after her grandsons and volunteering as a Teacher of English to new Canadians. She also volunteered at the Calgary Interfaith Food Bank right into her eighties, even mastering the computer. Veronica was very proud of being British, but she was thoroughly Irish when it came to temper, love and kindness. She was generous to a fault, giving away money even when she had little herself. She was a defender of anyone she perceived to be an underdog, loved cats, Coronation Street, chocolate, and ice cream, made the best chicken pot pie and cheese scones, and her Christmas Eve trifle was a family tradition. She loved to master things and learned to quilt, embroider and make bread. A voracious reader, she often read five or six books a week. Veronica was an expert on British history, especially the Royal Family and took great interest in all their doings. We will miss her unconditional love and fierce protectiveness, her generosity, sense of humour, impatience with objects both living and inanimate, and her strong sense of justice and honesty. She was always willing to help anyone in need or distress. She loved us all and greatly enjoyed family occasions and celebrations. She will be missed. Veronica is survived by her beloved daughter and son-in-law, Melanie and David Stevenson; and her two cherished grandsons, Chris of Toronto, ON and Scott (Tanya Cross) of Calgary. She will also be remembered by her two great-granddaughters, Sadie Schnell and Emma Stevenson. She will also be sadly missed by her good friends, Edna Altimus and Mary Vimy; as well as close family friends, Arlene and John Williams and their children, Julie and Jeff. Veronica was predeceased by her parents, Daniel (1918) and Anne Fitzpatrick (1971); her sister Julia (1999); and brother Jimmy (1921). Funeral Services will be held at McINNIS & HOLLOWAY’S Park Memorial Chapel (5008 Elbow Drive S.W.) on Saturday, March 19, 2005 at 2:30 p.m. with the Rev. Giovanni DiVincenzo officiating. Forward condolences through www.mcinnisandholloway.com. If friends so desire, in lieu of flowers, memorial tributes may be made directly to the Calgary Inter-Faith Food Bank Society, 5000 – 11 Street S.E., Calgary, AB T2H 2Y5 Telephone: (403) 253-2059, www.calgaryfoodbank.ca. In living memory of Veronica MacLeod, a tree will be planted at Fish Creek Provincial Park by McINNIS & HOLLOWAY FUNERAL HOMES Park Memorial Chapel, 5008 ELBOW DRIVE S.W. Telephone: (403) 243-8200.