McCartney Family

We had a full and wonderful long weekend! On Saturday we continued our tradition of picking apples with Shawn and Cooper at Chudleigh's Apple Farm. We had lunch at Boston Pizza first as our entry time wasn't until 3:30pm. It was a little cool, but we all had a fun time going down slides, feeding animals, picking apples, climbing trees, and swinging in the trees.

Sunday was church and turkey! Romelia and Lori spoke on Sunday, and the meeting was so lovely. Romelia spoke about being open to God and all the blessings that come from that. Lori spoke about being a blessing to others. The extra cool fun was that Elder Daines (Michelle Craig's brother) a member of the seventy was there and he bore testimony about the power of the sacrament and it was wonderful.

When we got home Ken was back to all of the prep. When 3 o'clock rolled around and it was time to put the turkey in the oven, we had a problem. The oven was sparking and glowing, and not useable. There might have been some falling apart, but Ken is a trooper and pulled himself back together! He BBQ'd the turkey, and Fiona and I went to Avlyn's house to use her family's oven as they were visiting with family and not at home. The food all worked out beautifully. Andrew came over and helped in the final stretch in the kitchen, but sadness, Mom was sick, so she and CJ weren't able to come.

Today was lovely. We all left the house around 10 am and drove up to Purple Woods Conservation area just north of Oshawa. We've been there before for the maple syrup festival, but we hadn't been there during the fall. It was beautiful! We had a lovely walk. We stopped in a the White Feather country store on the way home which is always fun.

It was so beautiful today. Alice wanted to pop over to Dollar Tree to pick up some things which we did. When we got back I just wanted to stay outside, so I decided that I wanted to walk the dog again before dinner. Fiona came with me and we had a beautiful walk. We walked over to the bottom of Audley and went to the beach for a minute. It was so beautiful! Oh and we walked through the meadow, and I found a tic in my shirt. It scared me! But goodness I'm so glad I found it! The weather was just beyond perfect today.

Next up was food for the missionaries. Ken decided that he wanted to feed two sets up missionaries today. One of the groups is three, so we had five Elders for dinner tonight. Ken made pulled pork, and he BBQ'd corn. It was so good. We had lots of food and funny conversation. We all decided that five elders at once is a lot lol, but it was fun!

Now it's back to school. Long weekends are dreamy and wonderful and I am so thankful for them. I could make lists for days of all of the things that I am thankful for. I am so thankful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I'm so thankful to have a Savior that loves me. I'm thankful for a loving husband, children, parents, and siblings. I'm thankful for Milo. I'm thankful for music, for teaching, for Canada, for our home, for the lake. I'm so grateful for my life.

Happy Thanksgiving!

On Tuesday afternoon Mom sent me a message, "I think Lizzie died, did you see anything in the news?" I thought this was a dementia moment, but I googled it, and there it was, Liz's obituary. She passed away on Saturday, October 3, 2026 at 94 years of age.

Shocked isn't the right word, I'm not even sure that stunned is the right word. I really thought she would live for many more years but I didn't realize how much her health had deteriorated in the last little while. The obituary listed the visitation on Thursday night and the funeral on Friday morning. Andrew and I made plans to pick up Mom and go together.

The funeral was at Rosedale United Church. It's a beautiful church. The service was really beautiful. It was filled with beautiful music and humorous memories of the force of nature that was Liz.

The prelude music for the service was provided by a string quartet. Lenny Solomon, first cousin to Liz (and my Dad) his wife Wendy Solomon played cello in the string quartet. The Reverend Dr. Kristin Philipson opened the funeral with words of welcome. Next candles were lit. Each group of grandkids came up to light a candle, and one of the great grandchildren lit the last candle.

I loved singing hymns at the funeral. We sang two. "Love, Divine, All Loves Excelling", the music was written by Rowland H. Prichard. In our hymn book the tune is 172, In Humility, Our Savior. I loved that even though it was a different text I knew the hymn tune and could sing out. The organist was Christopher Dawes, he was amazing.

One grandchild from each family did a reading. John Tory (my first cousin once removed) read Romans 12:7-16. It was a modern bible version, but it was just the perfect passage.

"We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited."

Three of 'The Tenors' performed three different songs at the funeral. John Tory (my first cousin) mentioned that when Liz started to think about her funeral she decided that she wanted 'The Tenors' to perform. They were originally called "The Canadian Tenors". They have performed all over the world, and although there are four members, three were at the funeral singing. They sang "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen, a medley of "You Raise Me Up" and "The Wind Beneath My Wings", and they closed the funeral with "I Did it My Way".

Jennifer, Jeffrey and John all gave Eulogies. They all did a wonderful job speaking. They all commented on their childhoods briefly. Jennifer said she was the angel. Jeffrey admitted that he and Michael were terrible children, and John gratefully acknowledged that Jeffrey finally admitted that he and Michael were the worst. They all acknowledged that their mother did so much to ensure that their lives worked, how much she supported their father John in his career, that she forced him to have a social life. They all spoke about the work that their mother did raising money for different organizations. She was a seventy year volunteer at Sunnybrook Hospital. She volunteered/fundraised for the AGO, the TSO, Sunnybrook and others I think. John told the story of how she famously told Jim Pattison, that he needed to build an aquarium in Toronto, and why hadn't he already. When the aquarium opened in Toronto, Liz was ticket number one, and she was given a lifetime pass to the aquarium.

They gratefully acknowledged different caregivers that helped take care of Liz over the years. She passed peacefully at home, and she was supported in her wishes of remaining at home by a team of people. Joy Ramirez was the last one to take care of her and Jennifer said that she added so much joy to her life. Jennifer spoke about getting to do charity work with her mother and how meaningful that was for her.

They talked about their Mom the amazing golfer, the voracious reader, about how smart she was, and how funny she was. Jeffrey talked about being in Montreal, and far enough away that his Mom could give her opinions and advice but he didn't have to follow them. He acknowledged however, that upon reflection the opinions that she had, the advice that she gave, even though unwanted, was good advice.

They spoke about her big heart, and about how she cared, even though they didn't always appreciate the way in which the care came. They talked about her unwavering love and support in their lives. John related a story that was written about him in the press that was very unflattering, and how he found out a few years later, that his mother, upon reading the story, wrote a letter to the reporter, letting him know how wrong he got things.

After the service there was a reception in the Catherine Grant Room. Andrew, Mom and I went and spoke with a few different family members. We talked to April (Dad's first cousin) and her daughter Kate, and Maribeth Solomon as well, also a cousin of Dad's. We spoke to Chris Tory and his wife Sadie. We spoke to Sarah Tory (she was married to Jeffrey Tory). We spoke briefly with Michael Tory, he remembered that Jon had been a Mormon Missionary, and seemed entirely intrigued by that. We hugged Jennifer Tory. We spoke with John and his wife Melanie. John shared a sweet story about Mom.

When Melanie gave birth to their son John (I have lost count as to how many John Torys there are!) the breastfeeding wasn't going well. John told this story to Andrew and I, and Mom, recounting how when their John wasn't latching, and nothing was going well, they told the staff at the hospital that they had a family member who was a lactation consultant and they wanted to call her. The staff at the hospital didn't really seem to like this idea and said that they had lactation consultants on staff, and that they didn't need to call their family member, but then someone asked who it was. When John said that Ruth Bacon was the family member, everyone got quiet, and they said, yes, call her. It was really neat to hear him tell this story, as I'd never heard this story before. I knew Mom helped them, but she helped so many people!

The last person we spoke to before we left was John Tory my first cousin. He is always so kind to Mom and always reminds her about how much she changed his Uncle Ted's life. That she gave him a life that his own father never thought he would have. He mentioned in his eulogy that his mother could be neither a politician or a diplomat. He said to me "you have a little of that in you, don't you?" to which I replied I do, I couldn't be a politician and he finished, or a diplomat.

I was so nervous before going, but goodness it was beautiful service and a beautiful experience. I'm so thankful for my big family. My Dad's side of the family feels so very different from my Mom's side of the family. Different and distant, a very entirely different life than the life I live. But, there is something that unites us, love of family. Liz taught her family to love, and each of her children has raised wonderful children of their own, and they are marrying and creating families of their own, and that love continues on. The laughter and feistiness too!

Before the service began.