Mary Boston Watson (Mitchell) November 3, 1949 – January 11, 2023
Passed away peacefully, but far too soon, at home on Wednesday, January 11, 2023 after a long illness. Mary will be remembered with love by her children Catherine Wilde, Patricia Wilde, Lindsay MacDonald and Damien Watson, grandchildren Leah and Owen MacDonald, sister Elizabeth (James) Dodd, nephew Mitchell (Ruby) Dodd and great-niece Kaylee Dodd. Predeceased by her parents, Dr. William and Wilma Mitchell and sister Catherine Mitchell.
Born and raised in Collingwood, Mary moved to Wasaga Beach in 1969 to raise her family. Mary fell in love with “The Beach” and contributed to the community throughout her life through dedicated volunteer and professional service.
Mary worked for the Town of Wasaga Beach for 30 years. She was very proud of the work that she did there, most notably the establishment of the Wasaga Beach Cemetery. After retirement, Mary remained devoted to the town and served as the volunteer Town Archivist until her passing. As Archivist, Mary spent thousands of hours digitizing and cataloguing all of the photos and documents in the archive’s collection. She also wrote a newspaper column and published a book with stories about events and people from Wasaga’s past. All proceeds from the book were donated to the Town of Wasaga Beach in order to achieve Mary’s dream of a dedicated exhibition space for the Archives. To date, Mary has contributed over $20,000 through the sales of her book “Sharing Memories”.
Mary was a life-long volunteer, beginning with the Wasaga Beach Kinettes and later with Wasaga Beach Rotary, Community Theatre Group and Friends of Nancy Island. She was recognized for her service with the Order of Wasaga Beach and Paul Harris Fellowship Award.
Above all, Mary had an all-encompassing love for her family and took great joy in her grandchildren. She will also be dearly missed by her many friends. The family would particularly like to recognize all of her friends and neighbours who were an enormous support throughout her final years. Special thanks go to the wonderful staff at Collingwood General and Marine Hospital, Dr. Dorothy Sunderland, and Nadiya Ali from Right at Home. Their compassion and loving care of our mother are deeply appreciated.
Friends are invited to join the family for a come and go celebration of Mary’s life at Carruthers and Davidson Funeral Home, 509 River Road West, Wasaga Beach on Thursday, January 26, 2023 from 1-4 pm. Please come prepared to laugh with your best stories of our Little Mary, Quite Contrary. Memorial donations may be made to the Wasaga Beach Archives (details to follow). For more information or to sign her Book of Memories, please visit www.carruthersdavidson.com