Marie Albina Miller
(née Boissonneau)
Born in Toronto on January 7, 1917, Marie died peacefully on December 7, 2017, at the Matthews House Hospice in Alliston, Ontario.
Predeceased by husband Arnold and son Terry, she is survived by sons Larry (Ruth) and Gordon (Kathy) and grandchildren Jacob (Jillian) and Emily.
One of three siblings remarkable for their unconventional independence, Marie grew up in Toronto in the parish of St. Vincent de Paul, rollerskating, playing tennis, hiking and birding, and enjoying an extended family that ran between Fern Avenue and Glendale Avenue - supplemented frequently by "the Montrealers," the Boissonneau aunts and uncles and cousins who gave her a broader sense of family feeling and pride. A fine scholar, she graduated in 1934 from Humberside Collegiate - and forty-odd years later, as a more than ordinarily mature student, received B.A. and M.A. degrees from York University.
Marie was always active and always happiest when her work and volunteering could spread her enthusiasms and advance her progressive views. In the thirties she had many jobs, but found the most satisfaction working as an administrator and director for the Canadian Youth Hostels Association, the Canadian Handicrafts Guild, and the Ontario Ski Association.
At the beginning of World War II, she took a job at the Toronto Public Library and there found her vocation as a librarian, working during the forties and fifties in Toronto and later in Kleinburg. In her middle years and as a senior, she devoted herself tirelessly to the Ontario Federation of Home and School Associations and, later, the Unitarian Fellowship of Northwest Toronto, where she found like-minded friends and the means to express her fierce commitment to community action, social justice and caring for the different, the disadvantaged and the displaced.
With Arnold, Marie moved in 1941 to Rivermede, their property near Kleinburg and her home for the next seventy-three years, living first in "the cottage" and then in a new house built for a growing family. Gardening and landscaping, music and porch suppers, the annual Christmas "at home" were constant pleasures, and our childhood was also filled with camping trips, skiing and hikes. Following Arnold's retirement, both studied at York, vacationed regularly in Florida and travelled extensively in Europe, through Elderhostels and international home-stay exchanges.
Marie was a proud and loving sister, mother, aunt, and grandmother - and perhaps an unconventional one. While possessing strong opinions and a firm sense of how to act and be, she strove to treat people with equality and fairness and to respond genuinely to their individuality.
A memorial service and celebration of Marie's life will take place in the new year. For details, please e-mail marieamiller_memorial@rogers.com.
(née Boissonneau)
Born in Toronto on January 7, 1917, Marie died peacefully on December 7, 2017, at the Matthews House Hospice in Alliston, Ontario.
Predeceased by husband Arnold and son Terry, she is survived by sons Larry (Ruth) and Gordon (Kathy) and grandchildren Jacob (Jillian) and Emily.
One of three siblings remarkable for their unconventional independence, Marie grew up in Toronto in the parish of St. Vincent de Paul, rollerskating, playing tennis, hiking and birding, and enjoying an extended family that ran between Fern Avenue and Glendale Avenue - supplemented frequently by "the Montrealers," the Boissonneau aunts and uncles and cousins who gave her a broader sense of family feeling and pride. A fine scholar, she graduated in 1934 from Humberside Collegiate - and forty-odd years later, as a more than ordinarily mature student, received B.A. and M.A. degrees from York University.
Marie was always active and always happiest when her work and volunteering could spread her enthusiasms and advance her progressive views. In the thirties she had many jobs, but found the most satisfaction working as an administrator and director for the Canadian Youth Hostels Association, the Canadian Handicrafts Guild, and the Ontario Ski Association.
At the beginning of World War II, she took a job at the Toronto Public Library and there found her vocation as a librarian, working during the forties and fifties in Toronto and later in Kleinburg. In her middle years and as a senior, she devoted herself tirelessly to the Ontario Federation of Home and School Associations and, later, the Unitarian Fellowship of Northwest Toronto, where she found like-minded friends and the means to express her fierce commitment to community action, social justice and caring for the different, the disadvantaged and the displaced.
With Arnold, Marie moved in 1941 to Rivermede, their property near Kleinburg and her home for the next seventy-three years, living first in "the cottage" and then in a new house built for a growing family. Gardening and landscaping, music and porch suppers, the annual Christmas "at home" were constant pleasures, and our childhood was also filled with camping trips, skiing and hikes. Following Arnold's retirement, both studied at York, vacationed regularly in Florida and travelled extensively in Europe, through Elderhostels and international home-stay exchanges.
Marie was a proud and loving sister, mother, aunt, and grandmother - and perhaps an unconventional one. While possessing strong opinions and a firm sense of how to act and be, she strove to treat people with equality and fairness and to respond genuinely to their individuality.
A memorial service and celebration of Marie's life will take place in the new year. For details, please e-mail marieamiller_memorial@rogers.com.
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