This life sketch is the fourth in a series of brief biographies previously published on the Amesdale Cemetery Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/amesdalecemetery
Eva McKay, was
born Mary Evangeline Priest on July 31, 1880 in Atwood, Ontario, the eight
child and sixth daughter of Joseph Able and Annie Eliza Priest. At 13 years of age, she moved with her
family from south-western Ontario to “the promised land” of southern Manitoba
near Glenboro, leaving behind an established life on a good farm, a large home
with an orchard, and her education. Two
years later, in 1895 by horse and wagon her pioneering family made the
difficult passage over the then rugged Riding Mountains to take our homesteads
south of Gilbert Plains. It
was there that she met a likeable and gifted salesman named George McKay, whom
she married in May 9, 1900.
The couple were
blessed with six children; Frances Alma, Anne Muriel, Joseph Wilson, William
Malcom, Bertha Evangeline and Marjorie (Pard) Winnifred, all born
in out west. With Pard just two years
old, in 1924 Eva and George and their four youngest children moved
to Amesdale, where they filed on one of the first homesteads in Rowell Township,
located one half mile north of the CNR station.
The McKay family
eventually settled in Richan where they operated a small store and post office. After George’s tragic death in 1928, Eva continued
to run the Richan store and post office, and as a young widow raised her youngest
daughters in the family cottage on the shores of Good Lake. Surrounded
by family and friends Eva continued in the area as postmistress of the Richan
post office until October 1948. She was a lifelong member of
Women’s Institute at Richan and belonged to the United Church ladies auxiliary
in Terrace Bay where she eventually moved to lend assistance to
her son William and family.
“Mrs. McKay is to be remembered for her kindness and
cheerfulness. This cheerfulness was not
a reflection of her husband. Each
possessed this quality which, no doubt, helped them through those difficulties
that we all meet, and must have been a source of joy and comfort to her
family. But it also contributed to the
lives of all who knew her, and helped them through the dull days and trying
times. Her kindness followed naturally
from her innate goodness, her faith in God, and her confidence in the
worthwhileness of humanity. But she was
no student of, nor theorist in, social welfare.
She gave help and comfort where she could, always with a cheerful smile,
or an infectious laugh that brightened the dullest day.”
Source: Mack, Austin; “Character Sketch of George McKay”, contained in “The Priests: Our Family History” by Marjorie Charles Steele.
At age 72, in
Terrace Bay, on February 26, 1953 Mary Eva McKay passed way after a short
illness. Funeral service was held on
March 2, 1953 at the Dryden United Church, Rev. D. W. Fraser officiating.
Compiled by Brian Gordon Ames
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