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Teacher had enthusiasm for life

BY KEITH LACEY There weren't enough hours in the day as far as Mary (Louise) McPhail was concerned. "She had more interests than anyone I ever met," said McPhail's best friend Sharon Urquhart.

BY KEITH LACEY

There weren't enough hours in the day as far as Mary (Louise) McPhail was concerned.

"She had more interests than anyone I ever met," said McPhail's best friend Sharon Urquhart.

McPhail, who died last week at the age of 92, was a popular teacher.

She taught at the old Nickel District Secondary School between 1965 and 1980.

When she wasn't teaching, she kept busy pursuing numerous hobbies and assisting numerous community groups, said Urquhart.

McPhail was a lifetime member of the Sudbury YWCA, an active member with the Sudbury and District Kennel Club and a member of the ladies auxiliary with the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 336 in Falconbridge. She was also a former president of the Sudbury chapter of the Canadian Federation of University Women, an active member of the Sudbury Weavers Guild and a member of the Order of the Eastern Star.

"When I first came to Sudbury back in 1969 as a young teacher, she took me under her wing and I found out quickly we had many interests in common," said Urquhart. "Over the years, we got to know each other very well and she became my closest friend."

Despite her many interests, family and work always came first for McPhail, said Urquhart.


"In the many years we taught together at Nickel District, I can honestly say she never missed a day of work," she said. "Her students could not count on getting a day off from her classes because she never missed work."

McPhail and her late husband, Donald, spent summers at their cottage on the Murdoch River near the Killarney road turn-off.

"A big part of her life was going to camp and spending a lot of time there during the spring and summer," Urquhart said. "She and her husband moved up to camp on the May 24 long weekend and they were there every year until school started up again in September."

McPhail gained a reputation by combining her love of raising collies with weaving, said Urquhart."She became very well-known in these parts for her ability and talents weaving the hair from the rough-coated collies she and her husband bred and raised for many years," she said.

"She would make some beautiful stuff from this dog hair."

McPhail's love for the arts involved not only weaving, but a lifelong passion for live theatre. "Mary just loved the theatre and was an avid supporter of the Sudbury Theatre Centre," she said. "She and her husband also attended Stratford (Festival)  almost every year."

McPhail also loved to travel and did so well into her retirement years.

"She had a brother who worked for the United Nations, and she would visit  him in different areas around the world on a regular basis," she said.

McPhail had a lot of friends because she had an outgoing personality and her many friends will miss her a great deal, said Urquhart. "Mary never said a bad word about anyone and always saw the best in every situation and that positive attitude is what will define her to her many, many friends."

McPhail leaves behind two sons, two grandchildren and two great grandchildren.


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