Obituary for Mary Louise Pierce
PIERCE, Mary Louise (Murphy)
March 30, 1941 ~ November 12, 2022
Mary Lou Pierce passed away peacefully on November 12, 2022, in Peterborough Regional Health Centre with her husband and family at her side.
Mary Lou was born in Truro, Nova Scotia to Frederick and Mary (Johnson) Murphy. Her father’s job in the Royal Bank led the family to living across the region, including Charlottetown, Lockport, New Waterford and Parrsboro, where she graduated high school, excelling academically and in music. She began her studies at Mount Allison University where she completed a Bachelor of Arts in English, which instilled a love of reading, particularly of Canadian authors. More importantly, she forged friendships that lasted her entire life.
Mary Lou and those Mt. A. friends then moved to the big city, enjoying Toronto the way that eight young women crammed into two apartments would. She found meaningful occupation as a social worker in downtown Toronto and worked with immigrants building their new lives in Canada. From there, she answered a calling to teaching, and completed a Bachelor of Education at Dalhousie University.
She met her future husband of 57 years, Fred, in Truro. After marrying in 1965, the couple transferred to Ontario, where Mary Lou had high school teaching positions in Clinton, Ingersoll and Sarnia. With Fred taking a job back in Truro, Mary Lou stayed home to raise her two children, never missing an opportunity to love and support their lives. Proper grammar, the importance of math and music, and meals around the dining table with her (many) sets of china were staples of the home she built with Fred. Through the Anglican Church, the Roosevelt Avenue and Highland Drive neighborhoods, and a stint for Mary Lou working in real estate, they made many wonderful friends in Truro and beyond.
Mary Lou’s small stature disguised a fighting spirit, as she waged a number of health battles in her later years. She managed many a digestive ailment, persevered with osteoarthritis, and conquered non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in her sixties, all while caring for her elderly parents. She even won a few rounds against the cruel dementia that ultimately took her life. After 47 years in Truro, Mary Lou and Fred moved to Peterborough, Ontario, in 2019 to be closer to their children and grandchildren. With an incredible amount of help from Fred as her primary caregiver, near-daily support from her children and a number of personal support workers, Mary Lou was able to remain at home through her final days. Even as the disease stole her ability to communicate, she managed to enjoy Fred’s cooking, daily walks and the busy lives of her grandchildren across the street, most often with a smile.
Mary Lou is survived by her beloved husband, Fred, her children Andrew (Christine) and Sarah Hickey (Donald), and her grandchildren Benjamin, Charlotte, Christopher, Emily, Evelyn and William. The family would like to extend heartfelt thanks to Susan Brindle and Hannah Hetherton for the kind and compassionate care they provided in her final year.
A celebration of life will be planned in Nova Scotia at a later date.
March 30, 1941 ~ November 12, 2022
Mary Lou Pierce passed away peacefully on November 12, 2022, in Peterborough Regional Health Centre with her husband and family at her side.
Mary Lou was born in Truro, Nova Scotia to Frederick and Mary (Johnson) Murphy. Her father’s job in the Royal Bank led the family to living across the region, including Charlottetown, Lockport, New Waterford and Parrsboro, where she graduated high school, excelling academically and in music. She began her studies at Mount Allison University where she completed a Bachelor of Arts in English, which instilled a love of reading, particularly of Canadian authors. More importantly, she forged friendships that lasted her entire life.
Mary Lou and those Mt. A. friends then moved to the big city, enjoying Toronto the way that eight young women crammed into two apartments would. She found meaningful occupation as a social worker in downtown Toronto and worked with immigrants building their new lives in Canada. From there, she answered a calling to teaching, and completed a Bachelor of Education at Dalhousie University.
She met her future husband of 57 years, Fred, in Truro. After marrying in 1965, the couple transferred to Ontario, where Mary Lou had high school teaching positions in Clinton, Ingersoll and Sarnia. With Fred taking a job back in Truro, Mary Lou stayed home to raise her two children, never missing an opportunity to love and support their lives. Proper grammar, the importance of math and music, and meals around the dining table with her (many) sets of china were staples of the home she built with Fred. Through the Anglican Church, the Roosevelt Avenue and Highland Drive neighborhoods, and a stint for Mary Lou working in real estate, they made many wonderful friends in Truro and beyond.
Mary Lou’s small stature disguised a fighting spirit, as she waged a number of health battles in her later years. She managed many a digestive ailment, persevered with osteoarthritis, and conquered non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in her sixties, all while caring for her elderly parents. She even won a few rounds against the cruel dementia that ultimately took her life. After 47 years in Truro, Mary Lou and Fred moved to Peterborough, Ontario, in 2019 to be closer to their children and grandchildren. With an incredible amount of help from Fred as her primary caregiver, near-daily support from her children and a number of personal support workers, Mary Lou was able to remain at home through her final days. Even as the disease stole her ability to communicate, she managed to enjoy Fred’s cooking, daily walks and the busy lives of her grandchildren across the street, most often with a smile.
Mary Lou is survived by her beloved husband, Fred, her children Andrew (Christine) and Sarah Hickey (Donald), and her grandchildren Benjamin, Charlotte, Christopher, Emily, Evelyn and William. The family would like to extend heartfelt thanks to Susan Brindle and Hannah Hetherton for the kind and compassionate care they provided in her final year.
A celebration of life will be planned in Nova Scotia at a later date.