Mary Anne Pickup passed away peacefully on Friday, July 13 at the age of 94. Mary (Ma to her children, Nannie to her grandchildren and Nannie Mary to her great grandchildren), was born in Mac Adams Lake, Cape Breton, to parents Dougal and Belle Currie. She is survived by her boys: Jack (Molly), Doug (Peggy), Karl (Debbie), Peter (Debbie), and Paul (Lisa), as well as 16 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren. Mary was the oldest of 13 children and is survived by brothers Michael, Jimmy (Shirley) and John Lauchie (Lizzie) Currie, sisters Theresa MacLean, Celia (Ray) Gosbee and Caddie (Archie) Fraser, and sister in-laws Peggy (Dan) and Theresa (Angus). Mary was predeceased by the only love of her life, Foch Pickup, with whom she shared 40 years of marriage. Mary and Foch became acquainted in 1938 and despite his being overseas in WWll for six years; they continued their long distance relationship via letter writing. Upon Da’s return home in 1945 the romance continued, leading to their marriage in 1946. Mary was also predeceased by siblings Katie Mae, Flora (Claude) Mac Mullin, Christina (Michael) Mac Innis, Buddy (Sally) Currie, Dan Currie, and Angus Currie as well as brothers in law Tommy MacLean, Michael MacInnis and Claude MacLean and sisters in law Sally and Rhodena. A tireless worker her whole life, Mary, being the oldest of 13 children, helped raise her siblings, before raising her own family. Throughout her life she expressed nothing but love and respect towards her family and members of her community. She extended that love and respect to her work as a PCW at Spring Garden Villa /Breton Bay Nursing Home, where, for over 25 years, she earned the admiration of colleagues, supervisors and residents. As a hard working advocate of the labour movement, she branched out from the position of President of local 1183 to become an integral member of the Nova Scotia division of CUPE and following into the Canadian Federation of Labour.
Mary was a faithful member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Sydney for almost 60 years. She was a lifelong member of the C.W.L. and took an active role in the fundraising campaign for the new church, St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Parish. Nannie was a wonderful cook and baker…her pies, biscuits and baked mac and cheese were legendary! She took great joy in preparing and serving meals for her family. A visit to Mary’s home quickly revealed what was most important to her: her family, as indicated by the numerous pictures prominently on display, and her relationship with God, as expressed by the many devotional cards, icons, watching televised mass, and her time spent in daily prayer. During these intimate conversations with God she prayed for herself but mostly prayed for others and regularly blessed those who came to her home. And now this good and faithful servant is rejoicing in heaven and probably sharing a hug and a little dance with Foch….Visitation will take place at Curry’s Parkview Chapel On Tuesday, July 17 from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. A funeral mass will be held Wednesday, July 18 at 11:a.m. at St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Church on Cabot Street, Sydney, Fr. Bill Burke officiating and burial will take place at Resurrection Cemetery. Condolences may be forwarded to the family by visiting www.twcurry.com. In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations may be made to the N.S. Diabetes association.
