Sheila Ann Lumsden-Graham

Sheila Ann Lumsden-Graham, lover of…Wheaton’s, the Bulk Barn, Hallmark cards, the town of Canso, every holiday season in the calendar, and most notably family gatherings, passed away peacefully at home in Stillwater Lake on Wednesday, September 13th with loved ones at her side. She was 80.

The youngest of five siblings, Sheila was born on February 21, 1943, to parents Madonna and Herbert Lukeman, in Canso, NS. She attended and graduated from Canso High School and subsequently Nova Scotia Teacher’s College in Truro, NS. Her early career saw her teaching briefly in Antigonish and Sydney, NS followed by a much longer tenure at Canso High. In 1982 after the untimely passing of her first husband, Jerome (Rome) Lumsden, Sheila took over sole operation of the Lumsden Fuels home heating business and simultaneously the helm of a busy household with three children.

Sheila loved her hometown and was very involved in community life. She was an active parishioner at Star of the Sea as well as a member of the Canso Curling Club. Her kids were her everything which led her to volunteer as a religious education teacher, girl guide leader, and minor baseball coach, to name but a few. Regardless of the club or sporting organization in which her kids enrolled, Sheila was ever-present, either volunteering on the front lines or as a vocal and supportive spectator in the crowd. If her presence at these events required a temporary lock-down at Lumsden Fuels, well then so be it.

In 1987, Sheila married Ivan Graham. When Ivan transitioned away from the National Sea Product’s Canso plant in 1990, Sheila sold Lumsden Fuels Ltd. and formally retired. In 1993, Sheila and Ivan moved to Stillwater Lake near Halifax. Shortly after, in 1995, her first grandchild arrived at which point Sheila embarked on a new career – becoming “Nanny Sheila”. As she did in motherhood, Nanny Sheila invested her entire soul into being a grandmother. She navigated this calling with inherent skill and with an approach that those around her admired, learned from, and will forever strive to emulate. In the early years, this took the form of frequent babysitting, sleepovers, filling her “tickle-trunk” full of fun toys, and regularly calling everyone to the Allenby homestead for lavish gatherings. As time progressed, Nanny Sheila put the tickle trunk away and taught herself to text as a necessary means of staying in-touch with her grandkids. She nurtured a relationship with them all via her coveted “one-on-one visits” where she carved out a safe place in the den or the gazebo for open communication, song, laughter, dilly bars and pringles, and a lot of silliness. Nanny Sheila showed us the power of a rock-solid foundation of unconditional love in a person’s life and we are all better human beings for the example. Consequently, Nanny Sheila remains very much alive and influential within those she nurtured.

Sheila is survived by her second husband, Ivan, three children, Michael (Cathy), Joanne (Blair), Brian (Jeanette), and two stepchildren, Tim (Cheyenne), and Nathaniel (Tracy). She is survived by 7 grandchildren (Jenna (28), Kade (25), Danielle (24), Kristen (24), Erin (23), Eva (15) and Ruby (13), 5 step-grandkids whom she treated as her own (Jeremy (28), Katie (25), Ethan (17), Mason (15), and Lucas (15)) and 1 great-grandchild (Owen (10 months). She is also survived by sisters Marion and Jean and numerous nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her parents (Madonna and Herb), her first husband (Jerome) and sisters Joan and Janice.

Arrangements have been entrusted to JA Snow Funeral Home, 339 Lacewood Dr., Halifax. Visitation will be from 5-7 pm on Thursday, September 21st. A memorial service will be held at the Funeral Home starting 2 pm on Friday, September 22nd. Cremation has taken place with interment to be scheduled at a future time.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Star of the Sea Parish in Canso, NS, or a charity of your choice.

In closing, the family would like to acknowledge the extraordinary level of care and support that Ivan gave to Sheila over the last number of years. Ivan went above and beyond, and for that, the family will forever be grateful.