Carol Christina Coady

Carol Christina Coady, the centre and final arbiter of any conversation, the instigator of whatever required instigation, and a ruthless competitor ..... all with a loud laugh and a generous heart ..... died on Monday, February 12, 2024 in the Mackenzie Heath Hospital ICU in Richmond Hill. Carol hated Mondays.

Carol, the older of two siblings, was born Carol Procyk in 1938, to parents Frank and Eva Procyk (nee Pontbriand) in their home at Cardinal, Ontario, a small village in the Ottawa Valley on the St. Lawrence River. It was a wonderful two storey home, on the canal bank, white with green trim and a beautiful verandah, large front and back yards and a sizeable garden, a white picket fence, and not to forget, a matching barn. Carol grew up in this tidy active village, living close to her maternal grandparents, a ton of loving and musical aunts and uncles and cousins, and an abundance of what would become lifelong friends.

Carol was a good student, excelled at swimming / basketball / baseball / tennis / badminton / tap-dancing, and always had a dynamite boyfriend ..... there were numerous in-town and out-of- town medals smattered across all the forementioned, including the boyfriends. Who could possibly forget her cruising town around on her second-hand, balloon-tired bicycle which she had painted lime green with yellow rings? In amongst all this, a little brother entered the picture when she was eight ..... whom she coddled, fed, washed, bandaged, told stories, took everywhere, taught and guided for the next 77 years.

Carol always had dreams to get somewhere special, to travel, which was difficult as we never had excess money, nor a car. She graduated from Cardinal High School in 1956, and decided that nursing would be both her passion and a key to her future. She spent three somewhat tumultuous years obtaining her Registered Nurse Diploma and completion of training in 1959 at the Hotel Dieu Hospital in Kingston, Ontario ..... “tumultuous” refers to her wild spirit living in a strict all-female residence, taught by and fully responsible to an army of Catholic Nuns, attempting to form a Union midterm (didn’t end well), all with a gazillion guys resident at nearby Queen’s University and Royal Military College and just across the border at the huge Fort Drum USA Military Training Base. Her dad Frank, the Nuns, and the grace of God got her over the finish line intact, wiser, and somewhat prepared for whatever next.

“Whatever Next” turned out later in 1959 to be her acceptance as a Stewardess with TransCanada Airlines, stationed in Toronto, living in an apartment on Balliol Street in Midtown Toronto with other stewardesses, and travelling across the breadth of Canada and into the USA, with, we can imagine, an occasional party and escapade.

While with Trans-Canada, she met a dashing Englishman Ronald Coady, whom she married in 1961, brought Ron’s youngest son Mark into their family, and moved in 1963 into what would be both her dream home and her lifelong home on the ravine in Thornhill. In 1968 they had a son Daniel, who completed their nuclear family (deliberately ambiguous). Ron owned Toronto Drive-Away (transporting vehicles across North America), was a professional pub piano player in England in his earlier life, charmingly bombastic, and cheated poorly with great delight at absolutely everything. Carol continued to practice her love of nursing on and off into the 1990’s in both hospital and private practices. Their home was never quiet, nor was the pool area .... regardless of why you were there, you left wet. Ron loved making money .... Carol loved spending it, travelling several times through Europe with her close friend Jean Scott. For Carol, her tennis (with her growing collection of artificial joints .... 2 hips, 1 knee, 1 shoulder) was a lifelong passion .... she was a top player with her Thornhill Tennis Club, and a longstanding player and later President for the Toronto International Net Set. Carol and Ron both started golf late in life .... it showed .... Carol played by the rules, Ron cheated, they argued, they loved it. Her and Ron’s tennis and golf, common love of family, their many friends, seasons tickets with the Leafs, Trivial Pursuit and card games, good movies, extensive reading, plus a condo on Longboat Key in Florida (naturally with 10 tennis courts) provided for a successful marriage and a most enjoyable life.

Carol is survived by her son Daniel (Michelle), and predeceased by her husband Ronald (2018) and son Mark (Nancy Milne, remarried) (1989).

Carol is survived by her grandchildren Mackenzie and Mark Coady (parents Daniel and Michelle), and Krista Hargrave (parents Mark and Nancy).

Carole is survived by her great-granddaughters Emma, Lila and Annabel Hargrave (parents Krista and Eric).

Carol is survived by her brother Donald Procyk (Margo), and predeceased by her parents Eva (1987) and Frank Procyk (1994).

Carol had been in reasonably good health, active, and causing trouble right into February ..... then, in the course of a week, she progressed from a mild illness to peril to complications to absolutely impossible. In the end, with all tubes removed and all machinery quiet, she passed away comfortably and peacefully with her son, her brother, and her best friend at her bedside. That we all could be so fortunate.

Carol has been cremated, and funeral arrangements have been made at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Cardinal, Ontario at 1:00pm on Saturday, May 4, 2024. After the service her ashes will be interred beside those of her husband Ronald, in the Cardinal Catholic Cemetery overlooking the St. Lawrence River. All as she wished.