Sheila Elizabeth Fyfe

Sheila was Alan’s beloved wife for 65 years; loving mother of Alison (Gerald) and the late Elizabeth (Mike); proud granny to James (Christina) and Charlie, and great-granny to baby Audrey; step-granny to Christopher (Joanne), Patrick, and Jesse & her daughter Juniper; dear sister of the late Gordon (Faith) and cherished auntie to Irene (John), Graham and the late Audrey (Derek).

Sheila was predeceased by her parents Harry and Grace Kerr, sisters-in-law Faith and Nancy, niece Audrey, daughter Elizabeth, and brother Gordon.

She will be deeply missed by extended family and friends in Scotland, England, Canada and the United States.

Sheila attended Wellshot Road Primary School in Tollcross, Glasgow and then Hutchesons’ Girls Grammar School before qualifying as a teacher at Jordanhill College of Education (now part of Strathclyde University). She would often regale family gatherings with stories of the kids she taught, usually located in the rougher parts of the city. She would swap tales with her older brother, Gordon, a Glasgow policeman, and her favourite (only) nephew, Graham, also a member of the force, who would later follow her footsteps into teaching.

In the early 1940s, during WWII, she experienced going out to a community bomb shelter in their back green, in the middle of the night – something she could recall quite vividly all her life. In Tollcross, neighbours in the tenement flats would look out for each other, while the kids grew up playing from dawn to dusk in the big public park, an oasis in the heart of the city, just steps from their front door.

Sheila and Alan first met at primary school, and then later at the Youth Fellowship at Parkhead East Church. They were engaged in April of 1958, and married in July of the following year. Their first home was in Mount Vernon, on the outskirts of Glasgow. Alison, their first daughter, was born two years later, and after Elizabeth arrived in January 1964, the young family moved nearby to Cambuslang, where they stayed until they emigrated to Canada in 1980.

Sheila loved cooking and entertaining, just like her mother before her, and she also loved singing, playing the piano and playing records. Above all, she loved to dance – she knew many dances from Scottish highland dancing, to folk or country dancing, waltzes, jive, the twist, line-dancing and disco. She would often join a group of people and ask, for her, the very serious question “when does the dancing start?” She was the proverbial life and soul of the party – even the smallest gathering would expand and brighten with her presence.

In the summer of 1980, Sheila, Alan and Elizabeth struck out for a new life in Canada (Alison would join two years later). They did indeed make a wonderful life here, and were welcomed into the community of Port Credit where they still have strong ties 44 years on. But her heart would always belong to Glasgow. That’s why Alan took the whole family back to their dear hometown in July 2009, to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. It was a three-day celebration, a reunion with family and friends, the perfect way to remember the past and forge new memories.

Sadly by this time, Sheila had already been suffering a form of vascular dementia after a series of mini strokes in 1997, which caused her to slowly deteriorate for two more decades when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. She lost her short term memory, but never lost her ability to tell a story, or recall the days of her youth in Glasgow. And she was still dancing at the care home in Guelph whenever she got the opportunity.

Special thanks go to the full team of nurses and administrators for the exceptional care at Lapointe-Fisher Nursing Home in Guelph, where Sheila resided for the last year of her life. She also stayed for a short period at Morriston Park Nursing Home and was there at the time of her passing, where she, Alan and Alison were treated with great sensitivity and care in her final hours. As well, last year she spent three months at Emma’s at the Village of Arbour Trails while awaiting her space in long term care.

In addition, we would like to thank the team at St Joseph’s Health Centre in Guelph for the recreational program that Sheila attended for several months in 2023. She loved “The Club”, as we called it, and as usual, the feeling was mutual. “See you later, Alligator…” she would always leave you with that phrase and a big smile, and couldn’t resist chiming in “after a while, Crocodile.”

Arrangements have been entrusted to Gilbert MacIntyre & Son Funeral Home, 1099 Gordon St, Guelph. Private cremation has taken place.

A Celebration of Life will be held at St. Andrew’s Memorial Presbyterian Church at 24 Stavebank Road North, Port Credit, Mississauga on Saturday November 2, 2024. Visitation with the family will be from 10:00am in the Church and the service will begin at 11:00am. A light lunch and refreshments will follow the service. A link to the recorded service will be available through the family for viewing later.

In lieu of flowers, a donation to the Alzheimer Society of Canada or the Salvation Army, or a charity of your choice would be greatly appreciated by the family. Donations and condolences can be made online at www.gilbertmacintyreandson-dublin.com.