Born October 8, 1925, Daphne "Elsie" Lucille Gwendolyn McWatt (nee Shaw), of Oshawa, Ontario passed away peacefully in her sleep on Sunday, March 27, 2022. Predeceased by her Husband Clifford McWatt she was the cherished Mother to Donna (Aubrey), Gillian, Peta and her son Tony. As the adored Granny of Shauna, Mort, Samantha, Teri, Tara, Rob, Andy, Zack and Matthew, she was also the Great Grandmother of Alanna, Tyson, Ethan, Timothy, Thomas, Oliver, Malachai, Jacob, Savor, Gwendolyn and Daphne.
Elsie was the third of five children born to Harry and Lucille Shaw. Her dad Harry, worked as an Overseer at the Skeldon Sugar Estate and it was there that Elsie spent her early childhood, attending the Skeldon Anglican School from 1930 to 1936. She then went on to Bishops High School from 1936 to 1941.
Elsie graduated from Bishops at the age of 16. She wanted to work in the Civil Service, but at that time, you had to be 18 to be employed there. She decided to attend the Carnegie School of Home Economics while she waited to “come of age”. It was there that she honed her cooking skills which to this day are still marveled at. There is no one that ever went to Elsie’s home without coming away with a full and satisfied belly.
Elsie finally joined the Civil Service in 1943 and worked in the Crown Solicitor’s office as a Secretary. She was married in 1951 to Clifford McWatt. No married women were allowed to work in the Civil Service at that time; however they kept her on because she had one of the highest secretarial certificates in the city and could type over 200 wpm.
Elsie was a co-founder and Secretary of the Business and Professional Women organization in Guyana, and had a very active church life. She made history at Georgetown’s St Andrews Presbyterian Church, one of Guyana’s oldest places of worship and now a national monument, as the first female elder. She was also the youngest in the St Andrew’s illustrious history to ever hold that position, serving as she did alongside her father (Harry Shaw) who was actually the church’s eldest elder.
Her last job in Guyana was at the Caribbean Conference of Churches (CCC) where she coordinated the nation-wide distribution of monthly issues of the Caribbean Contact Newspaper. This position enabled her to travel to Trinidad, Barbados, Jamaica and many other Caribbean territories to attend the CCCs Regional Annual Assemblies which were held in a different country each year.
Elsie migrated to Canada with Cliff in 1986 after her father passed away. He was 95 and her only remaining relative still living in Guyana at the time. She continued her secretarial career working at the Head Office of the Presbyterian Council in Canada until she retired. Her retirement days were spent looking after her grandkids and happily catering for her children, Donna, Gillian, Peta and Tony whenever asked. Elsie celebrated her 96th birthday last year surrounded by her four children, nine grandchildren, ten great grandchildren and other family and close friends. She said she was thankful for each year that she lived past her four score and ten.
A funeral service will occur at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 2, 2022 at Trinity Pentecostal Church, 900 King St East, Oshawa, Ontario L1H 1H2 with a reception immediately following in the church hall. Service will be available through Livestream by clicking the link below.
https://funeraweb.tv/diffusions/50827
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.oshawafuneralservices.com for the McWatt family.
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