Isabelle Beardsley

A vibrant and giving soul. Cherished and loving wife to Don, treasured mother to Jennifer, adored Amah to her grandchildren, Sophie & Thomas, beloved sister to Libby & niece & nephew Beth & Rod MacGregor and loving aunt to Alexandra Budgell, Tony Soares, nephews Chris & Andrew, Derek Budgell. Remembered with love by niece Gillian Pelly and nephew David Newell. She was also a doting second mother to Jennifer Natasha.

We take comfort that she has rejoined her treasured husband, Don, beloved sister Gwen and brothers Burt and Derek whom she adored so much.

She will be fondly remembered by many dear friends. From Hampton ave, the Vic, the Allan, and Isle La Motte to name a few.

Isabelle was a gem. She radiated kindness and love and carried this into all aspects of her life in her own humble way.

We will remember a working mom who had an exceptional career that was varied and challenging. With kindness and expertise, she cared for countless patients over a career that spanned nearly fifty years. It was also a time frame which saw remarkable advances in medicine which she participated in and lived firsthand.

Isabelle was born in pulp & paper town, Grand Falls, Newfoundland to Pete and Flora Budgell. She graduated in nursing from the Grace Hospital in St John’s and then returned to her hometown to care for patients in a small 10 bed hospital. They were very busy and times were different then. She helped deliver babies and gave childbirth anesthesia by dripping ether into an open facecloth. She cared for patients with Polio who sometimes needed iron lungs to breathe. It was the golden age of antibiotics and they would save her brother's life, it was a miracle.

Then, as a young nursing grad, Isabelle and her intrepid young friends made the trek to Montreal to find nursing jobs in the big city. She worked at the Montreal Neuro. She described patient seizures to a young and innovative doctor, Wilder Penfield, who was pioneering the field of neuroscience and mapping the brain.

Isabelle would come to return home to Grand Falls. There, she met a dashing young banker from Nova Scotia and the two newlyweds moved to Montreal, a vibrant modern city, home to landmark architecture, sky trains, and the underground city. It was the age of Expo and the world came to Montreal. They loved it.

Isabelle came to work again at the Vic, this time in Allergy & Immunology, where she assisted with innovative allergy testing in a field that was just coming into its own in the 1960’s.

Then, upon returning to work after a stint of full-time motherhood, she worked in gynecology and obstetrics. Perhaps the work she was most proud of, she helped establish the first Women’s Day Surgery unit at the Royal Victoria Hospital Women’s Pavilion. She worked there for nearly twenty years and cared for countless women, with a steadfast belief in providing safe and unbiased care. It was an age that saw incredible social change. She was part of it.

The last stint of her varied career was in Psychiatry at the Allan Memorial. She stepped in as Headnurse in her last years of nursing and is remembered there for her kindness, sense of humour and infinite patience.

Those who knew Isabelle, will remember her vibrant energy, love of life, her Newfie humour, and her sunny nature tinged with a little bit of whimsy and light-heartedness.

With so much to see, do, celebrate, explore, and share, Isabelle was always on the go. In her early twenties, she went to Europe with her sisters and a friend. It was a legendary trip. A headline in the local town newspaper saw them off: "Grand Falls Girls depart for the Continent!" A true social media moment!

Some of her adventures include the time she and fellow Vic nurses bravely headed to Gibraltar and Fez for a cup of Moroccan tea!

And her roadtrip to beautiful Trinity with fellow travellers Jennifer, friend Isabelle, Sophie and Thomas, where she donned her first North Atlantic wetsuit!

In recent years, there was also New Zealand, Australia, Cuba, London, the Orkney Islands and Las Vegas, with her friend and partner-in-crime Nicky. And boy, did they ever love a little sweet Elvis to swing to!

This past summer brought Isabelle back "down home" to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. She bathed in the glow of her treasured family, explored Gros Morne, sea kayaked once again with her grandchildren, toured Western Brook Pond, cod fished and marvelled at the Puffins!

She never missed a beat and in true Newfie style, there was always a good story to tell...

We will miss evenings spent together, talks and laughs over a glass of wine or a marshmallow or two at a Lake Champlain campfire. We will remember her walking barefoot and planting her flowerbeds. We will remember cabbage rolls and apple crisps.

She was always thinking of others, what she could do for them, what support she could offer. A great listener. She always brought out the best in people & loved every single minute of time shared. We are grateful for your time on this earth with us, our beloved treasure.

Heaven has been blessed with a new beautiful angel.

Please join us for a Celebration of Life on January 11, at Collins Clarke MacGillvray Funeral Home. The visitation is at 2pm, service at 3pm with a reception to follow.

Collins Clarke MacGillivray White will webcast the funeral ceremony of Isabelle Budgell on Saturday, January 11, 2025 from 2:50 PM EST to 3:50 PM EST.

You can view the ceremony live or on replay at https://funeraweb.tv/en/diffusions/101038

Thank you to the many friends whose kind messages are included here and Sophie for the inspiration.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Wesley United Church, 5964 Ave Notre-Dame-de-Grace, Montreal.

https://www.wesleyunitedndg.com