Obituary of Ida MacDonald

The family of Ida Marie MacDonald (née Doucette), 91, of Fredericton, NB, is deeply saddened to announce that after a sudden illness, Ida passed away surrounded by family, on November 26, 2024, at Doctor Everett Chalmers Hospital in Fredericton. Born in Campbellton, NB, Ida was the devoted mother of Marie MacDonald (Kevin Backs), Heather MacDonald-Bosse (Don), Deanna MacDonald (Shane Johns), and Chantelle MacDonald Newhook (Todd).

Ida was predeceased by Bennett, her beloved husband of 62 years, and her cherished daughter Heather; sisters Laura, Anita, Evelyn, Mirilda, and Viola; brothers Ernest, Robert, Gilbert, Damase, Louis and Rodolphe; nephews Roger Ouellette, Roger Doucette, Marc Doucette and Ryan LeClair; and niece Peggy Keirstead. Ida is survived by sister Lucie Donovan of Moncton, NB, and Ethel Wright of Florida; sister-in-law Joanne Armstrong of Sydney, NS, and many nieces and nephews on both the Doucette and MacDonald sides of the family.

Ida was perhaps best known for being “on the move”; as a teenage athlete, she was a competitive speed skater, and well into her 60s, she’d be seen zipping by on roller blades! Swimming, curling, golfing, water-skiing and alpine skiing were favourite activities. As the years ticked by, she traded these more aggressive pursuits for “distance power walking”. Well into her 80s, Ida’s daily walks were often 3-hour affairs ranging throughout the city. 

Ida delighted in her grandchildren, was proud of their achievements, and not-so-secretly proud that long after most grandmas were slowing down, she could keep pace with grandchildren Jessica Bossé (Marc-Etienne Rodrigue), Emily Bossé (Jake Martin), Bennett (Madison Curtis) and Andrew Newhook (Fiona O’Flaherty), Elliott and Hollis Johns and Christine Backs (Zachary Chartrand). As the next generation came on the scene, she took a keen interest in the activities of great-grandchildren Felix, Jasper and Éloïse, and loved to examine photos and videos of their antics.

Ida’s habit of being game for adventure was no doubt what caught the eye of young Mountie Ben MacDonald during his posting in Campbellton. After their 1955 wedding, she joined him on his posting to Kamsack, Saskatchewan, then upped stakes again when he entered law school in Halifax, NS. When her husband set up practice in Yorkton, Sask, Ida managed her growing family, engaged in a number of community and sporting activities, and became a real estate agent to “keep me busy”.  Ten years on, Ben and Ida moved “home” to Campbellton, as Maritimers so often do. When her youngest daughter started school, Ida’s next chapter was sixteen years work for the Province of NB, primarily with the Department of Justice.

After retiring at age 58, Ida held her husband to his promise that they would travel after their daughters left home. She organized an annual winter escape to southern Portugal, which enabled side trips to several European cities, and ultimately prompted her study of Norwegian. Why Norwegian? She said it was so she wouldn’t feel left out of conversations among the many Norwegians who returned year after year to Ida and Ben’s favoured winter haunt. But her kids know it was more likely because her friends told her it was too difficult a language for someone of her age. (It wasn’t.)

Ida’s family gratefully thanks the medical teams and staff of the Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital ER and Palliative Care Units, the nurses of the extra-mural program, and not least, Dr. William Stymiest and colleagues at Uptown Family Medicine.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hospice Fredericton at http://hospicefredericton.ca/donate  or a charity of the donor’s choice. Online condolences can be made at www.mcadamsfh.com.

Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated from Holy Family Catholic Church on Friday, November 29, 2024 at 11:00 am with Fr. Bill Brennan as celebrant. A reception in the church basement will follow the service. Ida's interment will be held on Saturday, November 30, at 2 pm in the Hermitage Catholic Cemetery.