Mrs. Mary Anne Brady Quinlan

Mary Anne Imelda Quinlan (nee Brady) was born in the city of Dublin in the republic of Ireland on April 17, 1909. Mai (as she was known) was involved with music and acting while also performing the usual paid manual labour chores to sustain family and self. She studied piano and earned her musical degree with the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM) with Honors and Distinction. She was also a fairly decent actress and was a member of the Irish Actors Equity. Mary was married to Tom who predeceased her in 1975. The union produced 3 children, 2 daughters, Anna and Mairead (Gaelic for Margaret) and one son, David. Mairead moved to Canada to live in 1967 and with the exception of Tom, the remainder of the family followed in 1970. They settled in Calgary and there Mary remained until her death in 1994. Mary was involved with theatre groups in both Dublin and Calgary and also accompanied classes, on the piano, at dance academies. Mary loved some sports but particularly soccer. She was an avid fan and enjoyed attending local soccer matches and catching the World Cup on TV. Her son David remembers trying to get her interested in professional hockey. He lives in Victoria, BC and is a fan of Vancouver Canucks hockey. During the Stanley Cup playoffs in 1982 (Vancouver advanced to the Finals that year) he was visiting Mary in Calgary. The Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks were playing. The game was on TV and David convinced her to watch. David's excitement so rubbed off on Mary that she admitted to him that is was a lot of fun. By the way, Vancouver won that game in overtime.

Mary's family was very precious to her. She loved her children even in the midst of storms that sometimes brew between families.

Mary's life was long and full. While living in Ireland she managed to visit many places in Europe and also took in the sights of Hawaii with her daughter Anna, son David and granddaughter Maria. Mary was the consummate Irishwoman, loving her birth nation her entire life. She managed to see Ireland one more time in the 1980's this time as a visitor. Mary lived till the good age of 85. she is survived by her daughters, Anna and Mairead (Henry Sattler) in Calgary; son, David (Marsha) in Victoria; granddaughter, Maria (Ian Doll) and their children, Brendan, Sophia and Alex all of Calgary. Mum passed away some years before the arrival of Alex, but the family agrees, Alex would have charmed Mum's heart. Our mother's cremated remains rest in a columbarium niche at Queen's Park Cemetery in Calgary, Alberta.