Obituary of Beryl Marie McIntyre

Passed away peacefully on January 26, 2019 at the age of 93, surrounded by her family.  Beloved wife of the late Ross McIntyre (1991).  Dear mother of James, John (Debra) and Sandy (Mary Anne Haney). Dear mother-in-law of Wendy and Carol. Grandmother to David McIntyre (Stephanie), Karen McIntyre (Chris Laramie), Marisa McIntyre, Collin McIntyre, Rhys McIntyre, Matthew McIntyre (Alyssa Carey), Kimberley Whaling (Mike), Cameron McIntyre (Melanie), Catherine McIntyre (Darryl Murphy) and Alexandra McIntyre (Wade Halicki).  Great grandmother to William, Joseph, Alaya, Dayaa, Laiklyn and Vivian.  Pre-deceased by her brother Robert Rutherford.

As a child, due to her parents’ severe health issues, Beryl was adopted by James and Mary Rutherford and was raised in Fergus, Ontario.  Music was a huge part of her life.  She attended Victoria College at the University of Toronto and graduated in 1947 with a BA in honours music.  Mom loved to play the piano.  She met her future husband Ross while she was playing her accordion on the front porch of her house.

In 1998, at the age of 73, Beryl made the decision to try to find her birth siblings. In that year she found that she had been born Beryl Catford in Mimico, Ontario.  The rest of the process took until the spring of 2002.  It was then that Beryl received phone calls from two of her new-found sisters, Edna Cowden (2010) and Anna Barnes (2013).  Shortly after she would meet sister Jean Danby (Williams).  Her oldest sister Kathleen had passed away in 1997.  Beryl went on to meet many “new” nieces and nephews.  She particularly enjoyed her visits with her new nieces Elaine Weeks, Diane Cowden, Cathy Cowden, Joanne Kelly and Linda Currie.

Beryl was a long-time member of First United Church in Waterloo.  While there both Beryl and Ross were members of the choir, the 50-50 club and the church bridge club.  Mom was also a member of the UCW.  She was “instrumental” in the formation of the bell choir at the church.  She was also a long time member of that bell choir.  In the summers at the cottage, mom supported Virginia United Church.  She would fill in as organist on request, practicing on her electric piano before the service.  The congregation there still talks about her famous rhubarb pies, complete with her unique meringue top.

Beryl was an avid golfer.  The year she was 88 she was on the golf course 89 times.  Mom was also a long-time blood donor until the year the CBS finally had to say, “you are officially too old to donate anymore.”  Beryl was also a long-time mall walker at Conestoga Mall. The walkers used to keep track of total distance walked.  By the time she had finished more than 25 years of mall walking, Beryl had walked from Waterloo to Vancouver to Whitehorse to Churchill and was on her way across northern Quebec.  When she added all of the walking that she did on the golf course, she had walked around the whole circumference of Canada.

Friends are invited to share their memories of Beryl with her family during memorial visitation at the Erb & Good Family Funeral Home, 171 King St. S., Waterloo on Thursday, January 31, 2019 from 6 - 9 p.m. The memorial service will be held at First United Church, 16 William St. W., Waterloo on Friday, February 1, 2019 at 11 a.m., with Rev. Kelly McComb officiating.  A reception will immediately follow in the church’s Hilliard Hall. Cremation has taken place.

Condolences for the family and donations to Grand River Regional Cancer Centre or First United Church may be arranged through the funeral home at www.erbgood.com or 519-745-8445.