Obituary of Mary Thurston

Thurston, (Lucy) Mary

February 27, 1927 - March 18, 2018

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Mary enjoyed her childhood in St John, New Brunswick and moved to Toronto when her father was transferred here by the TD Bank.  Most recently of Briton House Retirement Residence.

Comfortably and with great dignity, Mary left us to join her parents Ross Wilson Thurston and Lucy Catherine (Ross) Thurston while at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Palliative Care Unit, just shortly after her 91st birthday.  

Sister to John (June) Thurston. Will be dearly missed by nieces Carolyn (Norm) Crisp of Ottawa and Barbara of North York.  Grandnephews and niece Alexander (Nela), Gregory and Kyra Crisp, and great-grandnephew Jacob, also of Ottawa, will always remember her fighting spirit and love of life. Many Thurston and Woollard cousins from the Dunsford and southern Ontario areas will miss Mary deeply. 

Mary retired early from General Foods to pursue her love of travel to unique places in the world. She compiled several travel documentaries and enjoyed sharing her experiences with others. Mary had an ongoing love of all things golf, including volunteering for the Canadian Open on a yearly basis. She was a cut throat bridge player as well as a very enthusiastic and voracious reader.  She would devour the Toronto Star daily and kept close watch on current events and politics. One of her favourite hobbies was reading every page of the financial papers.  Mary had a keen eye for fashion and loved art, gardening and exploring all things that brought beauty to the world. She also had a sweet tooth and really enjoyed chocolate! Mary was a very generous donor to several favourite charities including Covenant House, United Way and, more recently, to the Sunnybrook Hospital Foundation.

During her retirement, she spent countless volunteer hours tutoring students for the Toronto Board of Education. She was very involved with the Thornhill Country Club and loved curling, golf and bridge. Giving up her membership to Thornhill in 2014, after over 50 years, was a tough decision to make, but physical restrictions made it difficult to attend as often as she would have liked to.  Mary applied her determination to all tasks that presented a challenge to her, and once she managed to conquer the internet, she kept in close contact with many family and friends via email, sharing her day and remaining as loving and involved as she could, when distance and circumstances kept her apart from the people she held most dear.  Genealogy and connecting with family near and far, was particularly important to her. Her lightening quick memory would allow her to ‘connect the dots’ with who is related to whom, and in her later years, it became even more important to her to keep in touch. Mary also had a very sharp mind and dry wit.  If you hit on a topic of interest to her, she’d engage endlessly in conversation in regard to it.  

The family will receive friends at the HUMPHREY FUNERAL HOME A.W. MILES – NEWBIGGING CHAPEL, 1403 Bayview Avenue (south of Davisville Avenue) from noon on Saturday, March 24^th followed immediately by a memorial celebration of her life in the chapel at 1 o’clock. 

A very special “thank you” to the staff at Briton House, especially Dante Natividad and Merna Lilly, for their excellent care given to Mary during the many years she resided there. Deepest heartfelt appreciation to cousins Kathy (Harry) Howie and Margaret (Derek) Allen for their many friendly visits and companionship over the last few years and, more recently, for being with her as she slipped away and left us behind.  Your assistance at this time has been invaluable.  We also want to recognize the superior and compassionate care she received at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre during her last few days. The family requests no flowers but instead, suggest memorial donations may be made to the Sunnybrook Medical Centre in Mary Thurston’s name.  Condolences, photographs and memories may be forwarded through www.humphreymilesnewbigging.com.

Psalm 100

1Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

2Worship the Lord with gladness;

come before him with joyful songs.

3Know that the Lord is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

4Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.

5For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;

his faithfulness continues through all generations.