Donna Marie Ann Cashman

Donna Marie Ann Cashman passed away peacefully on March 28, 2019 at the Halifax Infirmary from complications of dementia. She was born in Inverness, spent her childhood in Yarmouth County, and, then, chose Halifax as her home. A piece of her heart, though, forever lay on the blue shores of Cape Mabou which held vivid memories of childhood vacations where she and her brother delighted in time spent with the extended Rankin clan – until the end, nothing gave her greater pleasure than attending a Ceilidh surrounded by the Rankin cousins on her beloved Island. A true Caper!

Donna was always a dedicated and hardworking student, with an inquisitive mind. She was never afraid to challenge conventions or express an alternative viewpoint. These attributes led Donna to the debate stage where, as a young girl, she consistently triumphed against much more seasoned competitors. Donna was a proud graduate of St. FX University as is demonstrated by the fact that she was rarely seen without her cherished “X” ring. She went on to postgraduate studies at Middlebury College and at the Sorbonne (the latter of which commenced a lifelong love of anything Parisian, especially almond croissants).

Following in the footsteps of her parents, Donna was a teacher and educator by profession and, like everything she did, embarked on her career with gusto, focus, and hard work. Donna was a pioneer and scholar in second language pedagogy and she often had to battle parents and what she considered to be outmoded teaching methods, but, with her legendary tenacity, she prevailed. When serving as an instructor of French immersion during summer sessions, the students in her classes routinely graduated with greater fluency than their more senior schoolmates. During the course of her career, she garnered admiration and awards from her colleagues and formed lifelong friendships with many of her students. She was in demand throughout Canada to lecture on her teaching methods.

After her retirement, Donna applied her skills as teacher to serving as a StrengthsFinder coach to parishes and other faith based communities across the Province. As an educator, there was nothing that Donna loved more than to empower people to discover their own “talents” and, equally, to value the “talents” of others and, through this process, to facilitate community building. Donna was delighted that, through her work, various parishes added StrengthsFinder to the Church’s Marriage Preparation Program as a tool for counselling young couples in resolving relationship conflict.

Donna was a woman of great faith. Even as a young child, she found her own unique space in the Church when she formed an unlikely but lifelong correspondence and friendship with Cardinal Richard Cushing, a relationship that began when she wrote him a surreptitious letter requesting a shortening of the Church’s Sunday sermons in order to better accommodate her playtime schedule. Despite her faith, during periods of her life, Donna did grapple with some of the Church’s tenets and, in particular, with how it defined the role of women. Notwithstanding these struggles, after her mother’s death, Donna made a conscious decision to re-engage with the Church and to press for change from within. Starting with advocating for an increased role for women within church service, these discussions led to a change in policy so that she and other women could serve as Eucharistic Ministers during Mass, which service Donna continued up until the last months of her life, even as dementia advanced. In retirement, Donna replaced teaching with volunteer work at the Archdiocese of Halifax and St. Mary’s Basilica, serving on a multitude of committees and groups, and her commitment to participating in the community life of the Church gave her new purpose. In the last months, as Alzheimer’s ravaged, she found solace in its pews.

Perhaps the tenets of the Church that kept her faith so strong were its prescripts with respect to helping the indigent and disadvantaged. The elevation of Pope Francis and his mission to highlight the plight of the marginalized during his pontificate inspired her. Her desire to help those in need led her to participate in a Christian mission to orphanages in Jamaica, delivering clothing and much needed supplies and, afterwards, she recounted this experience as one of the most meaningful of her life. In addition, Donna’s work as a second language educator, took her to Canada’s far north and these trips instilled in her a compassion for the hardships of the country’s aboriginal populations, something about which she was still trying to educate herself during the last years of her life. Locally, she advocated for greater pastoral outreach to remote communities, such as the Church of St. Anne in Bear River First Nation, the community into which her father, Randall, was born.

Like her wardrobe, Donna’s life was filled with colour and light, resembling the impressionist painters that she came to admire during her time in Paris. She was vibrant, loved to laugh, loved French Chardonnay, her favourite meal was Nova Scotia lobster, and, for dessert, there was nothing better then a bowl of ice cream, really any flavour – in fact, we have come to learn that one of her greatest joys during these last months was her daily expedition to Sugah! for a scoop (or two!) of ice cream. The fact that Donna was always willing to share, no matter how small the scoop, is an example of her generous spirit.

Donna struggled during the last eighteen months of her life with rapidly progressing dementia and, throughout, she fervently fought to maintain her independence and routine. She was defiant to the end, which made it a challenge for those who were trying to help her manage this terrible disease. The fact that so many stood by her despite the difficulties is a testament to the relationships that she had built and the true gift of friendship that she shared with others throughout her life. There are too many acts of kindness than could possibly be enumerated, but some went above and beyond in terms of the care and assistance provided such that they cannot go without mention, so a special thank-you to Richard, Sharon, Pat and Jeannie, Joanne, Margelaine, Andree and Patricia, as well as cousins Joan, Cathleen, Paul, and, of course, Carmel. A special thank-you should also be extended to Catherine-Anne Murray, the OT with a heart of gold – we don’t know how we could have endured the past months without you.

For many years, Donna worked as a volunteer counsellor in the palliative care unit at the Halifax Infirmary. Through this work, she was able to make an immediate and positive impact in the lives of patients and families during their bereavement. She was known by the nursing staff for her empathy and compassion and for the calm, quiet presence that she offered to the distraught. In the last days of Donna’s life, a procession of friends and extended family have held vigil for her as she passed from this world and thus were able to offer to Donna what she, herself, had given to so many before her, representing the circle of a well lived life coming to a close.

Donna is survived by her brother and wife, Bill and Tuula (Hietala), and her niece and husband, Danette and David (MacFarlane), the extended Rankin family and her best friend Barbara Sherwood. She is pre-deceased by her parents Randall and Margaret (Rankin).

Please join her family in valediction to Donna. A visitation will take place at JA Snow Funeral Home (339 Lacewood Dr.) on Thursday, April 4th from 4:00pm to 7:00pm. A funeral mass will be celebrated at Donna’s second home, St. Mary’s Basilica (5221 Spring Garden Rd.), on Friday, April 5nd at 10:00am, which will be followed by a reception in the church basement from 11:00am to 1:00pm where stories and memories of Donna are welcome and expected. Interment will take place in Cape Breton beside her treasured mother, Margaret, at a later date.