Dr. Mairi Teresa St. John Macdonald

Dr. Mairi Teresa St. John Macdonald passed away peacefully in her 92nd year on March 4, 2017, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Born in Montreal to Elizabeth Marie Smith and Col. Ronald St. John Macdonald, M.D., she was the beloved elder sister of Ronald St. John Macdonald, CC (d. 2006), legal scholar and jurist; and Dr. Elizabeth Smith Macdonald Podnieks, CM, nursing professor and gerontologist. She was the loving and generous aunt to Andrew Podnieks (Mary-Jane Nguyen Podnieks) and Elizabeth Podnieks (Ian R. Smith), and great-aunt to Zachary Podnieks Smith and Emily Macdonald Smith.

After graduating from the Sacred Heart Convent in Montreal, Mairi earned a B.Sc. in Agriculture Engineering (McGill University); an MA (St. Francis Xavier University; and a Ph.D. in Education (University of Toronto). From 1972 until her retirement in 1988, she was Director of Continuing Education at Mount St. Vincent University and part-time instructor of the Adult Education Graduate Program at Dalhousie University, prior to which she was Director of Counselling Services at Seneca College and an instructor in the Counsellor Education Program at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, among other academic appointments in Ontario, Nova Scotia, and England. Mairi was the first National President of the Canadian Congress for Learning Opportunities for Women. She was, additionally, a founding member of the Ontario School Counsellors Association and of the Halifax-Dartmouth Council on Continuing Education; and a founding president of two Halifax seniors groups, “Experience Unlimited” and “ElderLearners.” She was also active in the Canadian Association for Adult Education and the Canadian University Counselling Association. Mairi was a recipient of the Canadian Silver Jubilee Medal and the Y.W.C.A. “Recognition of Women Award”; and received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters (D.Hum.L.) from Mount St. Vincent University. Honorary Life Memberships were conferred on her by The Atlantic Provinces Association of Continuing University Education; The Canadian Association for University Continuing Education; and the Halifax-Dartmouth Metro Council on Continuing Education. A scholarship, bursary, and award were established in her name by the organizations and institutions she so passionately served.

Mairi enjoyed reading, walking, and travelling; she loved the rain, wind, and snowfalls. She took especial pleasure in spending time on the family farm, “Egnaig,” at Bailey’s Brook, Pictou Co., Nova Scotia. Funeral service will be held on Tuesday, March 7, at 2:00 pm at Saint Mary's Catholic Church, Lismore, Pictou County, followed by interment in the Parish Cemetery.