Ethel Jean Leitch

A Celebration of the life of Ethel Jean Leitch
March 25th, 1917 – February 11th, 2005

The Eulogy given by Ken Leitch and David MacDougall at her funeral on February 15, 2005, at St. Andrew’s United Church, Martintown.

Ken:

We’re here today … to honor Ethel Grant Leitch, a woman who was many things to many people. For Bill and Stuart, Ethel was a grandmother. For Claudette, a mother–in-law. A great grandmother for C.J. and Kirsten. A sister to Alex. A sister-in-law to Malcolm. To hundreds of others at Cornwall General Hospital, she was a compassionate nurse. And of course, a friend to those gathered today.

Now, where do the two of us fit in?

In the Leitch family, there were two brothers, Ross and Murdie, and two sisters, Maye and Jean. Uncle Ross married Aunt Ethel and they had one son, Malcolm. David MacDougall is Jean’s only son, and I’m Ken, Murdie’s only son. The three of us, Malcolm, David and I were all born within a year of each other. Dave and I are both honored to have the opportunity to pay tribute to Aunt Ethel.

Dave:

It is nice to be back in St. Andrews. The last time I was up here at the front I was probably a young teenager participating in a Sunday school service.

Aunt Ethel was a special person when I was growing up, as Malcolm and I spent a lot of time together and saw a lot of Aunt Ethel and Uncle Ross. Some of my memories of Aunt Ethel are from when I was quite young. She had a number of qualities – hard working, caring about others ahead of herself, and she always seemed to have a ready smile.

I remember that she was both a farm wife and a nurse. As a farm wife she and Uncle Ross worked as partners baling hay, doing chores and the like. She did the hard work as well as looking after the home. Often at the end of the day at the farm, she would undergo a transformation into a nurse, her second career. At this time in her life she didn’t drive and Uncle Ross would take her to and from work. They found time for a bit of sleep in there sometime.

I only remember her getting angry with Malcolm and once and we were absolutely speechless. Not sure what we did but she sat us in separate corners and didn’t talk to us for a while. That was about as bad as if ever got with Aunt Ethel.

I was introduced the bagpipes at Aunt Ethel’s I took lessons from Malcolm’s teacher and we ended up playing in the high school band together. She, as well as our other parents, spent a lot of time being to stoic Scot listening to us practice daily.

Aunt Ethel learned to drive a car only after Uncle Ross passed away. Prior to this her driving experience was limited to the tractor, safe in the fields of the family farm. She was very proud of this skill and spent a lot of time driving back and forth to my mother’s place in Cornwall. We used to chuckle a bit that she would never get a speeding ticket as we don’t think she got up to even near the speed limit. Being independent with the car was a true pleasure for her. In later years when she drove much less, Bill Leitch senior came to the rescue and was a very willing chauffeur, often driving Aunt Ethel to get groceries and to appointments.

Aunt Ethel looked after other people ahead of herself. Barb, Ken’s wife, last evening used the word “humble” to describe this quality. She would fetch tea, open doors, and even carrying luggage while younger, stronger people looked on. More than once I had to wrestle suitcases from her hands when she came to visit us. We teased her about this often. Brought it to head once when I took the bags out of the car and put them in front of her then started toward the house asking her to bring them along. She saw the humour.

Many of our fondest memories are around family gatherings. We spent many Christmases together. Aunt Ethel was a great cook and always stuffed us full of turkey. The problem was that my family then went on to an evening on the MacDougal side of the family and the traditional noon meal at the Leitch’s was enough food for a couple of days. Family gatherings evolved over the years and Aunt Ethel spent many an enjoyable Christmas with Claudette, Bill, Stuart and their families. The opportunity to spend time with her great grandchildren, C.J. and Kirsten was a highlight for her.

Ken:

For about 10 years, from 1984 to 1994, Maye, Jean, and Aunt Ethel had a whole other life in Florida. They spent about 3 ½ months every year in Panama City Beach, the home of the famous sugar sand where many Canadian snow birds escaped the winter. To the rest of the family, they weren’t known as the snow birds, but rather, the Golden Girls. In Florida, they met their friends who ranged from Alberta to Arkansas.

They usually had the end two units facing the ocean, and spent part of their time walking the beach, playing cards or hitting the early bird special at the local restaurants.

They were such regulars at the motel that they left clothes, dishes and other belongings from one year to the next, because like clockwork, when January arrived in Florida, so did the Golden Girls.

The owners of the motel, whom they referred to as, the “boys” because they were only about 50 years old, trusted them so much that when they took some time off, the girls were in charge.

As if they didn’t get enough of each other in the winter, the two sisters and their sister-in-law often spent time together in the summer at Maye’s home in Pointe-au-Basil on the shores of Georgian Bay.

It was about a 7 hour drive from Williamstown to Pointe-au-Basil, a little too far for the tractor, so Aunt Jean and Aunt Ethel usually got a ride up north with Malcolm, Bill Leitch Senior, or David. In Pointe- au-Basil once again, life revolved around meeting old friends, playing cards, boat rides, often on Tom and Marjorie’s pontoon boat, and preparation of meals. There weren’t any early bird specials in Pointe-au-Basil.

I must tell you about one of my experiences on the farm during haying season when I was 16. I was down to help out a bit, and although I thought of myself as being quite strong and fit, I had difficulty keeping up to Aunt Ethel as we unloaded the bales from the hay wagon and put them on the conveyor belt that led to the top of the barn. She did all this, went in
and prepared dinner, then headed off to do her shift at the hospital.

Your grandchildren and great grandchildren should be proud you carry some of Aunt Ethel genes.

These are just a few of the memories that Dave and I have.

Aunt Ethel has given something to all of us and we thank her for that. – but keep in mind that you enriched her life as well.

I’m sure she would want she would want me to thank you for what you gave to her and for being here today.

Aunt Ethel, you really are a Golden Girl.