Elizabeth "Betty" Vincent

Betty Vincent’s soul passed into the next stage of her journey on June 14, 2011. As with everything important that she did in life, her death was gentle, graceful, wrapped in love and on her own terms. The family will receive friends on Thursday, June 16, 2011 from 7 to 9 pm at McEvoy-Shields Funeral Home at 1411 Hunt Club Road (at Albion Road). Funeral Service will be held on Friday in the Chapel of Mount Royal Cemetery 1297 rue de la Foret, Montreal, Quebec at 11 am. Followed by interment. Online condolences may be sent to McEvoy-Shields.com

Elizabeth Davidson McAllister was the daughter of James McAllister and Marion Goold, born in Glasgow, Scotland, January 21, 1924. She immigrated to Canada aboard the S.S. Athenia with her mother and three sisters in 1927 shortly after the unexpected death of her father. Living in Verdun, Quebec and raised by her Mother and 3 sisters, Mary (Panton), Jean (Costigan) and Helen (Anderson), Betty was surrounded by all things Scottish, and that continued throughout her entire life.

At age 14 she left school to begin work in a factory, to assist her sisters to care for their mother. On the day she met her future husband, Fred Vincent, she cringed in the kitchen with her sisters and said “I can’t go out with him, he has red hair!” They were married in 1945 and lived together in Verdun, Pointe Claire and Pierrefonds, Quebec, where they raised two children, Susan and Philip. Fred passed away in July, 1984.

Betty was a stay-at-home mom; her life revolved around Fred, Susan, Philip, her Mother, and her extended family of her sisters, their husbands and kids: summer vacations at the cottage or at the beach in Old Orchard, the backyard pool, listening to or watching hockey, Christmas and Easter gatherings and those amazing Scottish New Year’s Eve parties. Betty and her sisters cared for their mother at Betty’s home in the last months of Marion’s life.

In 1988 she moved to Ottawa to be closer to Susan and her husband, Jim (she couldn’t imagine a better son-in law) and her two granddaughters, Laura and Erica, who provided her with endless joy. In their early days she would babysit them regularly, and as time passed, she helped them grow into confident young women. She was extremely proud of both girls, of Erica’s musical talent and Scottish dancing, and of Laura’s love of animals and devotion to protecting the environment. “I’ll always be with you” she said.

Betty travelled several times to Scotland; in 1990 she flew to New Zealand and Hawaii with her former daughter-in-law, Karen Howard. Over the next 20 years she travelled with her sister, Helen, or with Sue, Jim and the girls, or with Philip and his wife, Hans Aggarwal, to visit Las Vegas, New York, Banff, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Vancouver and Victoria, and of course, Scotland again.

In the mid 1990’s she discovered the Internet, and over the next 15 years or so she immersed herself in genealogical research, compiling an impressive family tree of the McAllister clan, the Davidsons, the Goolds, the Costigans, the Andersons, the Pantons, the Vincents and the Sangsters. Her detective work took her to the National Archives of Canada and Scotland, and she left behind several volumes of research for other family members to follow.

In 2000 she started making new trails when Hans and Phil bought the Island, and Betty spent as much time as she could at the cottage. She loved to rake and would spend hours in the woods making trails and tidying things up.

In April 2011 she became a patient in a hospital for the first time in more than 50 years. Always mistrusting of the medical profession, she grew to admire and respect the wonderful professionals who cared for her. And for the first time in her life, she made her own friends who weren’t first friends of her family. “They turned my life around.”

Betty’s last days were spent at the home of her daughter, son-in-law and granddaughters where, like her mother before her, she was lovingly cared for by her family.

In addition to her immediate family, she is survived by nephews Jim and Brian Costigan, Brian’s wife Madeleine, and their children Tammie and Paul; nephew Dave Anderson and his wife, Nancy, his daughter, Dawn. and Nancy’s children, Jamie and Kate; by her niece Gail Bing and her husband, Gerry; and by her niece Beverly Groulx, her husband Guy and their children and grandchildren.

She was such a strong and gentle person in life. Some of the people who loved her and relied on her the most were unable to be with her at the end, but as Betty would say, “I know what you were thinking, and it’s okay”.