Obituary of Marilyn Ann Mackey

It is with great sadness that we share the passing of our mother, Marilyn Ann Mackey, on Friday November 24, 2017. She was 79. 
Putting words to our loss is difficult, but we take tremendous comfort in having been at her side. For Mom, family was everything — her pride, her purpose, and her compass. Her last days, we hope, were as she wanted:  to be surrounded by love, to feel the touch of her grandchildren, and to find a deserved sense of calm. We remain humbled by her grace.
Mothers are the reason any of us are here, and anyone who has lost theirs knows it is disorienting. Marilyn raised us to be good to others and kind to ourselves. She encouraged manners and laughter and simple pleasures.  A trained ECG assistant, Mom worked a range of jobs to help provide for us and we know her life was not always easy. Yet she rewarded us with rich memories of Christmas mornings, Sauble Beach summers, hockey arenas, garage sales, graduations, weddings, birthday money cakes, proms, football games, and the many days and years that hemmed them all together.  She was a lover of novels, brooches, lipstick, good china, photo albums, baking, questionable pop music, bingo, and any craft that required a glue gun. The only fear she revealed to us was loneliness.  For us, her devotion was constant and not always warranted, and we are profoundly thankful for that.  
We are grateful to the doctors and staff at Victoria Hospital-London Health Sciences Centre for their care over the years, and the tremendous compassion they showed in tending to Mom’s needs and dignity. Marilyn is survived by her brother, Douglas, and his wife June, and enjoyed the love of ‘the boys’, Kevin, Kent, Scott, and Stephen. She is predeceased by her daughter, Julie Ford, and was an especially proud Nana to her five grandchildren — Taylor Robinson Raffy (Christophe), Hannah Robinson (Brandon), Luke Mackey-Klaassen, Gerrit Mackey-Klaassen, and Jetsun Elias Frayer.  
Mom was most fulfilled when she believed she was helping others. In her memory, donations can be made to Victoria Hospital-London Health Sciences, the Terry Fox Foundation, or the Canadian Cancer Society with our appreciation.  
— Jill Mackey Robinson (Todd Robinson)
— Shaun Mackey (the late Henrietta Klaassen)
— Janis Mackey Frayer (Kevin Frayer)
— Christopher Mackey (Kirsten Anderson)