Carol Wood Tevlin

Carol Tevlin (nee Wood) -- It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of our wonderful mother Carol on Sunday, November 22nd at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. Following a brief illness, Carol slipped away peacefully with her husband of 61 years Tom and her children John, Tim, Mary Ann and Sarah by her side.

Carol was a devoted wife and family matriarch, grandmother to Thomas and James (John and Kathy Tevlin), Patrick, Michael and Robert (Tim and Christine Tevlin), Peter and Graham (Mary Ann and Bruce Smith), and Matthew and Natalie (Sarah and Jeremy Pryor). She is survived by her sister Dawn Chaplin of Chester, Nova Scotia, as well as her many nieces and nephews from across Canada.

Carol was a Maritimer, born in 1930 to Maude and James Wood and raised in Minto, New Brunswick for the first eight years of her life. Following her father's passing when she was four years of age and later after her mother remarried Ted Lutes of Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, the family moved around the Maritimes to places such as Saint John, New Brunswick and Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia.

After completing high school at age 16 in a three-room schoolhouse in Tatamagouche, Carol enrolled at Dalhousie University and completed her Bachelor of Arts there in 1949. Upon graduation she first moved to Montreal to find employment, and then later to Toronto. Along with three friends she moved into the Glenview Apartments on Yonge St. south of Lawrence. This is where she met Tom and they married in 1954 at St. Peter's Church in Toronto. Several of their lifelong friends also met at the Glenview and later married, watching their families grow together.

Carol and Tom bought their first house in the new suburb of Don Mills in the late 1950s, then moved in 1964 to the Tevlin family homestead on Mason Blvd, sold earlier this year after more than 50 years of great memories with our immediate and extended families, along with a wide circle of friends.

The home on Mason Blvd was as much a part of Carol as a home could possibly be, the place where she took a raw lot and turned it into a gorgeous garden that she nurtured with the utmost dedication. Not to mention the city property beside the house and across the street as well!

Carol was a fantastic cook and entertainer, and a traditional homemaker of the first order who baked, knitted and sewed. She was also a lifelong volunteer with organizations such as the CNIB, St. Michael's Hospital and the Garden Club of Toronto.

Carol was very well-read and traveled, a sharp conversationalist who was always interested to learn about everyone and their lives versus going on about her own. She was a straight-shooter who could put you in your place if you needed it, but will be remembered as a fun and true friend to her and Tom's family and friends, as well as to her own children and all of their friends who came through the open door of her home.

We would like to extend our thanks to all of the nurses and doctors at Sunnybrook for their care of our Mom over the past few difficult weeks. Thanks also to the dedicated nurses and staff in the Veterans Ward at Sunnybrook where our Dad Tom is a resident.

Friends may visit at the TRULL “NORTH TORONTO” FUNERAL HOME, 2704 Yonge St. (5 blocks south of Lawrence Ave.) on Thursday November 26th, 2015 from 2:00 – 4:00pm, and 6:00 – 8:00pm. A Funeral Service will be held on Friday November 27th, 2015, in the chapel at 11:00am. Cremation to follow. A private interment will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers please make a donation to a place that makes flowers grow in our city the Toronto Botanical Garden at http://torontobotanicalgarden.ca.