Giving thanks for the life of Marie Doan
Sunday, June 11, 2023 at noon
We will be holding a Memorial Meeting for Worship to give thanks for the life of Marie Doan on Sunday, June 11 at noon, in-person and via Zoom.
Click here to join via Zoom.
Weather permitting, we will serve refreshments outdoors afterwards.
Click here to join via Zoom.
Weather permitting, we will serve refreshments outdoors afterwards.
Testimony to the Grace of God in the Life of Marie Doan
1928 - 2022
Marie Doan, daughter of Lewis and Pearl Rollings, was born and raised on the family farm in Queensville, Ontario. She met her husband, Cal, at a local Junior Farmers dance and spent her married life on the Newmarket Doan farm, now named Monashee Farm, reported to mean “Mountain of Peace.”
Marie had a strong connection throughout her life to churches in the several communities where she lived. Later in life, while conducting research into the Doan family history, she learned about Quakers and began attending Yonge Street Friends Meeting in Newmarket. She became a member of the Religious Society of Friends in 2001.
Marie came to Quakers with a lifetime of service as a supportive farm wife, a mother of 3 children, a career as a registered nurse and a specialist in Public Health., Marie valued her independence and seemed to find a good work-life balance which included pursuit of her own interests. Marie was very creative, a prolific spinner, dyer and knitter. Her paintings and other creations were shared with others and filled their retirement home which Cal had built on land severed from the family farm. She spoke proudly of her three grandchildren. Marie and Cal enjoyed extensive travel throughout North America. They had a particular affinity for the Yukon and the mountains of Western Canada.
From the beginning of her association with Yonge Street Meeting, Marie became involved in the life of the Meeting. Initially, she was on the Library Committee and later served for many years on Ministry and Counsel, which has responsibility for the spiritual and pastoral life of the Meeting and its members. Her perspective as an older person was very helpful. Perhaps her strongest devotion at the Meeting was to the creation of a butterfly garden, which she faithfully maintained with Dorothy Trimble and other Friends. They were inspired by the arrival one fall day, by a multitude of migrating monarch butterflies which landed in the trees around the meetinghouse. Marie and others were deeply concerned about the future survival of monarchs in the face of environmental degradation and loss of local fields of milkweed.
Her calm, quiet demeanor and consistent presence in worship was Marie’s ministry to the Meeting. She usually sat in the same place, near a window overlooking a lilac bush. Often in the summer a bird would perch in the bush, giving Marie a sense of visitation from her daughter who died at a young age.
Marie was a “modern thinker,” very practical and open to society’s changes. She shared her opinions very directly but was ready to hear other points of view. She believed every person deserves respect, acceptance and love.
After Cal’s death, and in the face of her own declining health, Marie left her beloved home and moved into Alexander Muir Retirement Home. She continued to spin and paint and took an interest in activities in the Home. Over the span of a couple of years, as she faced worsening health, she made practical preparations for her own death, ensuring arrangements were in good order. Marie died with her children, Tim and Sandy, by her side, as she had wished.
Marie had a strong connection throughout her life to churches in the several communities where she lived. Later in life, while conducting research into the Doan family history, she learned about Quakers and began attending Yonge Street Friends Meeting in Newmarket. She became a member of the Religious Society of Friends in 2001.
Marie came to Quakers with a lifetime of service as a supportive farm wife, a mother of 3 children, a career as a registered nurse and a specialist in Public Health., Marie valued her independence and seemed to find a good work-life balance which included pursuit of her own interests. Marie was very creative, a prolific spinner, dyer and knitter. Her paintings and other creations were shared with others and filled their retirement home which Cal had built on land severed from the family farm. She spoke proudly of her three grandchildren. Marie and Cal enjoyed extensive travel throughout North America. They had a particular affinity for the Yukon and the mountains of Western Canada.
From the beginning of her association with Yonge Street Meeting, Marie became involved in the life of the Meeting. Initially, she was on the Library Committee and later served for many years on Ministry and Counsel, which has responsibility for the spiritual and pastoral life of the Meeting and its members. Her perspective as an older person was very helpful. Perhaps her strongest devotion at the Meeting was to the creation of a butterfly garden, which she faithfully maintained with Dorothy Trimble and other Friends. They were inspired by the arrival one fall day, by a multitude of migrating monarch butterflies which landed in the trees around the meetinghouse. Marie and others were deeply concerned about the future survival of monarchs in the face of environmental degradation and loss of local fields of milkweed.
Her calm, quiet demeanor and consistent presence in worship was Marie’s ministry to the Meeting. She usually sat in the same place, near a window overlooking a lilac bush. Often in the summer a bird would perch in the bush, giving Marie a sense of visitation from her daughter who died at a young age.
Marie was a “modern thinker,” very practical and open to society’s changes. She shared her opinions very directly but was ready to hear other points of view. She believed every person deserves respect, acceptance and love.
After Cal’s death, and in the face of her own declining health, Marie left her beloved home and moved into Alexander Muir Retirement Home. She continued to spin and paint and took an interest in activities in the Home. Over the span of a couple of years, as she faced worsening health, she made practical preparations for her own death, ensuring arrangements were in good order. Marie died with her children, Tim and Sandy, by her side, as she had wished.