Christine MacKay
Wife, mother, grandmother, sister, financial broadcaster, imposing bridge player, cook. Born Dec. 14, 1922, in Tantallon, Sask. Died March 23, 2011, in Toronto of pneumonia, aged 88.
If Christine MacKay ever heard the old saying "loyal to a fault," she chose to ignore it.
Christine was born in the tiny farming village of Tantallon in the Qu'Appelle Valley of southern Saskatchewan. She was one of seven children of Icelandic immigrants Sam and Thora Johnson. The family later moved north to Wynyard, Sask., a community with a strong Icelandic history. Christine eventually attended college in Regina, where she studied business.
After a tumultuous marriage that saw the birth of five children - Douglas, Robert, Stuart, Nancy and Jane - and too many moves for a young family, Christine and the kids set off for Toronto in the early sixties. At a time when a single mother was far from the norm, Christine was determined to make a better life for them all.
After joining the Toronto Stock Exchange, Christine rose to director of communications and became the first person to do live broadcasts from the TSE for CBC Radio, heard across Canada and the world and drawing "fan letters" from as far away as Germany. With no formal training in broadcasting, Christine tackled the job in her usual gutsy fashion, later adding reports for a Hamilton TV station to her list of credits. A patient and supportive mentor, she was loyal and expected the same of her staff.
Her fierce loyalty to her children - and anyone else she called a friend - could, at times, bring out the scrapper in her. She fought hard for better pay for herself and her mostly female staff while at the TSE, standing firm against a male-dominated organization.
That bellicose exterior was often a cover for Christine's more diffident side. Despite her accomplishments, she often doubted herself.
Christine was passionate about cooking and politics and she loved to combine the two, preparing dinners for family and friends that usually ended in robust discussions on the political issues or politicians of the day.
Christine retired from the stock exchange at 59. After travelling across Canada with a friend, she settled in Vancouver in 1982 to care for her aging mother and be close to other family members. She loved the west coast, but in 1992 she moved back to Toronto to spend her remaining years among her children and four grandchildren.
Four of her children survive her. Sadly, in 1983, she lost her second-eldest child, Robert, who died accidentally, something Christine struggled with for the rest of her life.
In her later years, Christine wrestled with Alzheimer's, dulling her sharp mind and leaving her frustrated. She succumbed to complications of pneumonia a few days into spring, her favourite season.
By Michael Williams, Christine's friend