Isabel Matheson

During WW2 Isabel met and later married a dashing member of the Royal British Navy, Ron Matheson, the love of her life. They were happily married until Ron’s passing in 2016.

Isabel found it daunting to leave a small English town for a farm in northern Ontario, but it was there that she and Ron built a life together and raised their four children Andrew, Sheena, Deborah, and David.

In the over 40 years on a family farm Isabel never did embody the typical farmer’s wife persona. We had a huge lawn around the house, atypical for a farm, and Ron kept it regularly trimmed in an effort to abate Isabel’s extreme fear of snakes and other creepy crawlies! It was most likely because of her lack of affinity for farm life that Isabel became resolute about expanding her horizons. She got a part-time job as caretaker at a public school and was later promoted to Head Caretaker. A female Head Caretaker is rare today but, in the 1970s was trailblazing. To get to this job Isabel had to take the bus, which in rural areas does not come by every ten minutes, so there was a lot of waiting in cold weather. The solution for this was to get a driver’s license. Isabel practised and got her license and later her own car. Isabel’s intrepid spirit was never dampened by her husband Ron’s teasing about her strict adherence to always driving 5 km below the speed limit!

Isabel had a creative, artistic soul. When she would colour with us kids she was never bound by rules and there would be pink and purple bears, blue rabbits, orange sky and rainbow hued people. Isabel was a master craftsperson when it came to knitting and cross-stitch and macrame. Her creations were intricate, detailed, and beautiful.

Isabel adored being a grandmother, or Nanny as we say, to Amber, Matthew, Stirling, Sorina, Ceilidh, and David Jr. and great grandmother to Amaia, Autumn, Indra, Alistair, Rosalia, Michael, Mason, Madison, and MJ.

Isabel loved the liveliness and hustle and bustle of being around lots of people. She touched many lives and is profoundly missed.

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