CLARKE, Marie (née Hart)

(1941-2024) -

Our beloved Marie passed away at home in Whitby, late on Monday the 15th of January, 2024.

Born in Hertfordshire, UK, Marie came to Canada in 1966 with husband Rod, and made home and friends wherever she lived; Peterborough, Deep River, Guildwood, and latterly Whitby for over fifty years.

She was at rest and sleeping deeply when her heart finally stopped. A heart which had struggled valiantly for just over twenty-seven years of gradually increasing ill-health but which still managed to give her the joys of friendship, walking, reading, sailing and travelling; long membership of her Book Club; All Saints Anglican Church Chancel Guild; and Trefoil Guild Guide Leaders Group, but most of all seeing the lives and careers of her children and grandchildren flourish. After a visit and blessing from the Minister of her Anglican Church, All Saints, Whitby, she let go, surrounded by family members.

She is survived by husband Rod; daughters Ruth and Lindsay with Jan and Jon; the memory of son Matthew; grandchildren Steven and Rachel of Whitby, and Hannah, Jack and Rhys of Toronto; sister in law Vera and late brothers Terry and Robbie; nieces Michele and Gayle and families in Mansfield UK, and nephews Iain and Neil and families in Leeds, UK.

We thank all the doctors, nurses and technicians locally and at St Michael’s Hospital, Toronto for the care they gave her over those years; the late Dr Batu Malek and Mrs Malek of Whitby; Dr Gordon Moe, Haytham Sharah, and Frances Lee of the Heart Failure Clinic, and the staff of the Pacemaker clinic, all at St Michael’s Hospital; and recently Dr Renee Sidky, and other staff too numerous to mention.

We thank her RN friends Anne, Janice and Brenda in Whitby and Cobourg for their help and support in her final days; two friends Beverley and Beverley in Whitby; neighbour Margaret; friends of over sixty years Lynn and Lesley of Vancouver; cousins Janet and Brenda in the UK and USA; friends Joyce, Brenda and Jennie in Newfoundland, Deleah in Idaho and Maya in Ottawa; family friends Jill and Adie of Toronto, and Nicole and Paul of Whitby, and neighbours who were there for her and the family in her last days. We were particularly grateful for the outstanding support and palliative care provided by the staff, nurses and care assistants of Home and Community Care - Central East.

We also thank her friends and their spouses in her Book Club, and Rod’s friends and their spouses in the Southern Ontario Gauge 1 and Trevithick Groups for the support, friendship and pleasurable company they gave her over many years.

A funeral service will be held at All Saints Anglican Church (300 Dundas Street West, Whitby) on Friday, April 26, 2024 at 2pm. Light refreshments to follow.

If you wish to make a donation to commemorate Marie’s life she would be pleased if it were made to support the work of the Robert McRae Heart Health Unit at St Michael’s Hospital, Toronto.