SHIRLEY HARRIET REID

March 16, 1925 – July 29, 2025 It is with great sadness that we write that our wonderful mother Shirley Harriet Reid has died, four months after her 100th birthday. She was such a force of nature that all who knew her were hardly surprised that a cataclysmic event (an 8.8 magnitude earthquake) struck on the day she passed away. She was born in Vancouver and moved to Edmonton at 12 years old, meeting our father on her doorstep the day the family moved in. This is when their love story began! As he was a few years older, they attended different schools and lost touch during WWII, when dad was serving in the RCAF. As a POW in Germany, he sent a letter to his sister asking her to ask mum to send him a letter, and she obliged. That was all it took to get them back on track! After Dad's release he returned home to Edmonton, where he and Mum married in 1946 and started a family. He went to the University of Alberta, achieved a degree in Chemical Engineering and started working for Imperial Oil. His career progressed rapidly, and Mum's responsibilities as a corporate wife and a mother increased along with his. Their lives quickly became a whirlwind of activity and Mum seamlessly juggled the mothering of her five children with relocations in various parts of Canada, the USA and the UK. In 2000, they moved to Toronto where several of their children were living and also enjoyed spending time at their home at John's Island in Vero Beach, Florida, where she celebrated her birthday this year, for the 45th time! She loved the Arts and, in her youth, she had many fans of her beautiful voice, performing often in Edmonton in operettas, concerts and to visiting soldiers. Whilst living in Toronto, she was a member of The Mendelssohn Choir. She shared a singing teacher with Robert Goulet and listened to him singing "If ever I would leave you" on the day she died. People who knew our mother casually would describe her as "fun, gorgeous, elegant, stylish, gracious and upbeat." But she was also highly intelligent with a wry sense of humour. Her interest in people was genuine and compassionate, and she dealt with her own losses with stoicism and bravery. In the Exxon family she was renowned for her generosity, kindness and hospitality. She was still sending Christmas cards in her 100th year and read three newspapers daily. She was predeceased by her husband Richard Gavin Reid in 2009, her eldest son James MacDonald Reid, her sisters Audrey Dunn and Dianne Samson and her parents Walter and Maude MacDonald and in-laws Marion and Richard Gavin Reid Sr. Her surviving children Shirley Ann Howell (Holly), Don (Julie), Barbara and Cathy Stranberg (Jim) will miss her terribly but are happy that she is reunited with our father and her other loved ones who will be thrilled to be with her again! Her grandchildren: Jim (Bronwen) and Stuart Reid, Cheyne (Jared) Ross, Perry Reid, Maude (Max) Ebenstein, James Stranberg, Olivia (Ben) Hamblett and great-grandchildren: William Ross, George, Charlie and Ellery Ebenstein know how lucky they were to have their nana in their lives. We are grateful for the wonderful care she received at Mt. Sinai Hospital and for her exceptional Caregivers: Teresita Fuentes and Abie Pablo. On the day she left for Heaven, she thanked God for her wonderful life! To honour our mother: please celebrate the wonderful gift of life we have all been given. Condolences may be forwarded through www.humphreymiles.com.