Jane Heather Will

Her life began in Val-d’Or Quebec, in May 1941, her early years in Timmins, Ontario, her childhood in Streetsville, and her teen years in Clarkson. Mom was a joyful child and dutiful daughter, and loved babysitting for the Tippings, with whom we went on big, group camping trips, which became the heart of many wonderful memories and a lifelong extended family.

Heather attended Lorne Park High School, along with her best friend, Patty Stewart, after whom she named her middle daughter, Lori Patricia. Forever caring about how she looked, and on a tight budget, Mom sewed her own clothes, a skill she carried forward to the 70s and 80s, sewing beautiful clothes for her 3 daughters.

One of Mom’s favourite memories was her trip at the age of 16 to visit Uncle Charlie and his family, in Baltimore, Maryland. Uncle Charlie had a grand home and loving family, who very generously gifted Mom a brand-new silk dress and hat, which made Mom feel like a princess! No doubt, Heather wore white gloves on the ride to and from --for whenever Mom travelled any distance from Clarkson, even to her part time job in the china department at Simpson’s in downtown Toronto, she wouldn’t have been caught without wearing white gloves, which was the signature of a proper young lady in 1950s Canada.

After graduating from Lorne Park, Heather attended the “London School of Nursing”, now Fanshawe College, to become a registered nurse, and to proudly work for the Victorian Order of Nurses, where she provided in-home and community-based care. She figured that her only choice of career at the time, was to either become a teacher or a nurse – Heather was a middle-class woman of her time, after all. While at nursing school, she made lifelong friendships with Nancy “Boo” Reid and Nancy “Moff” Meagher, and Bonnie “the Bonz” Wilson. And, alas, it’s in London, where Heather met the love of her life, Bruno Oscar Will.

Heather and Bruno were married in 1965, before Dad graduated medical school. Lisa Marie, their first child was born in London, and when Lisa was not yet a year old, off they went on their first adventure, to Vancouver for Dad’s internship. Mom liked to tell us, that it rained biblically, that she was terrified of driving standard in their Volkswagen Bug on the hilly streets of Vancouver with her first born in tow, while her husband worked 16-hour days. Directly after finishing Dad’s residency, their second adventure together was to practice frontier medicine in an isolated area of northern BC. Together for the town of Fraser Lake and for the people of Stellat’en First Nation, Mom and Dad made it a priority to provide, high quality accessible healthcare for all.

In addition, it was in Northern B.C. where Mom had to drive herself 100 miles to the Prince George Hospital to give birth to their second daughter, Lori Patricia, because Dad was on a fishing trip! Mom loved Fraser Lake – she has fond memories of fishing for trout with her friend Janet, curling bonspiels, and participating in group activities like making hundreds of homemade doughnuts for community celebrations.

When Mom and Dad returned to Ontario to be closer to their families, they soon bought a corner house in a brand-new subdivision, “Rattray Park Estates”, where they set up a doctor’s clinic in the basement, where Mom also nursed part time. It is here where their beloved daughter, Cheryl Anne, was born, and where Mom taught herself to cook, where she signed her and Dad up for a recreational couples badminton group which became “The Badminton Group” — and ultimately a decades-long rotation of dinner parties, cottage weekends, and even a trip to Italy with the Pinks!

Heather’s third big adventure was moving to the farm, in Hillsburgh, Ontario. This is where Mom finally had room to let her interior design talents loose, transforming a traditional farmhouse into a modern dream home 50 years before Chip and Joanna Gaines made it trendy. She made a beautiful home and life for herself and her family, where Dad was able to practice both medicine and farming, and where Mom, a city girl, turned country, amongst the loving kindness of country royalty, Ruth and Andy King.

From Hillsburgh, after she and Dad divorced, Heather bought a home in the Beaches and received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) from University of Toronto. She then worked for the Community Care Access Centres, spending most of her time working at St. Michael’s Hospital.

When Dad became terminally ill with cancer, Heather moved into his house in Aberfoyle to care for him, and she was with him the moment he passed. Heather then sold her house in the Beaches and moved permanently into Dad’s former home. We are all blessed that the two of them were together again, and will be so, forever.

Heather was the dearest daughter of Harold “Chick” and Elsie Cowan, and sister to her beloved brother, Doug Cowan. She is survived by her 3 daughters, Lisa, Cheryl, and Lori, her son-in-law, John Eras, and her grandchildren, Olivia and Rudy Eras. Heather is lovingly remembered by her sisters-in-law, Diane Cowan, Monika Gschwendtner and Senta Chisholm and by their children, Paige & Mark Savery, Sarah & Rob Parham, Sue & Richard Tryhane, Helen Gschwendtner, Karen & Graham Turner, Sabine Chisholm, Carl Chisholm & Karen Kepkiewicz, Neil & Bobby Chisholm, and all their children.

She was a lady, gifted in the arts that make a home, a sharp-witted games player, a woman of excellent taste, a woman of her time and ahead of her time. Thank you, and Godspeed, Mom!

Friends and family are welcome to attend a luncheon to celebrate Heather’s life (because food and entertaining was Mom’s greatest joy) at the farm at 9785 County Road 52, Erin, Ontario, on Saturday July 4th at 1 PM. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada or a charity of your choice would be most welcome.