Helen passed away peacefully on February 4, 2023, at St. Joseph’s Continuing Care Centre in Cornwall.
Born in 1928, she grew up on a farm near Glen Roy, the eldest child of John and Margaret Shago. After graduating from Iona Academy, she attended Teacher’s College in Ottawa, and began her career at Lochiel’s S.S. No.6, a one-room school. In 1950, she married the late Larry (Lawrence Joseph) MacDonald of Green Valley, and moved to Lancaster to begin their 46-year marriage. (They would later make St.Raphael’s home.) She returned happily to teaching in 1957, thriving into her sixties as a beloved primary school teacher who cared deeply for her students.
Helen is mourned by her daughters Brenda Baxter (Jim) and Barbara Sandilands (Ian), by her sons Brian, Barry (Lynne Benton), and Brendan (Marian Lawson), and by her loving grandchildren Graham (Patti) and Brendan (Simone) Baxter; Meghan Sample (Lee), Kaylyn (Stephan) and Clancy MacDonald; Christine (Adam), Rory (Bernadette) and Maureen Sandilands; Brody, Brett, and Brennan (Kaitlyn) MacDonald; and Kyla and Lawson (Alix) MacDonald. Eleven precious great-grandchildren brightened her last years as well.
She also leaves her much-loved siblings Jean Shago of Lancaster and Donald Shago (Lorraine) of North Bay, sister-in-law Louise (late John Shago) of Bainsville, and many treasured nieces and nephews. Helen was also predeceased by her cherished sister Mary MacDonald, and by Larry’s two brothers and their spouses, Cameron (Betty O’Shea) and Don (Joan Emard).
Relatives and Friends may call at the Munro & Morris Funeral Home Ltd., 46 Oak Street, Lancaster, ON (613-347-3629) on Wednesday, February 8, 2023 from 2-4 PM & 7-9 PM. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held in St. Raphael’s Church Thursday, February 9, 2023 at 1 PM.
Should you choose to donate in her memory, these charities were close to Mum’s heart: the Bishop’s House of Glengarry (4739 Frog Hollow Road, Green Valley ON K0C 1L0) and the Friends of the Ruins (19998 County Road 18, Williamstown ON K0C 2J0).