::VERONICA FUNK::
  • Journal
  • Portfolio
    • Curriculum Vitae
    • Portraits >
      • Woman's Work
      • Extraordinary Women
      • The Grandmothers
      • Wunderland
      • Nasty Women
      • Heroes
      • Ahead of Their Time
    • 52 WEEKS >
      • Wildlife
      • Wildflowers
      • Storytellers
      • Gratitude
    • Fashion Plates
    • Sacred Vessel
    • Simple Pleasures
    • Altered Books
    • Free Art Resources
  • Galleries
  • eCourses
  • Login
    • Painting Animals
    • Painting Art Journals
    • Painting Backgrounds
    • Painting Bees
    • Painting Canoes
    • Painting CityScapes
    • Painting Flowers
    • Painting Hearts & Houses
    • Painting Landscapes
    • Painting Portraits
  • Contact

The Grandmothers::Susan Ann Murray

10/4/2020

 
Picture
She is called Grammy by over 20 grands and 10 great grands... Susan was born in Cambridge, UK. The family moved to Canada in 1931 when she was 3, her father was professor & head of Microbiology and Bacteriology Labs at McGill from then until retirement, her mother a naturalist and writer, Susan grew up with a keen eye and a sense towards the natural world and what made it work. She married at 19, after working for 2 years during the war as cartographer for Ferry Command in Dorval. She created 43 large, detailed maps from aerial photographs.
​

Her 4 children were born between 1947 and 1964. Her first grandchild was born three years after that, imagine how lovely that would be to watch your generations grow together.
Her husband, Blake, passed away in 1969 after a late cancer diagnosis. Hard days for Susan, losing him when she was only 42, to manage her young family on her own, but she did it. She remarried in 1972, Don had 4 teenagers and 3 cats, all moved in! Two of her children married and gone, there were still 6 kids from 8-18 at home. The back yard was transformed for many summers into an enormous vegetable garden, many hours work in the garden and canning & freezing food for winter.

When Sue was about 50, she realized she had more time and a strong interest in jewellery after several years rock collecting & travelling to old mines with Don in spare time. She took courses, and taught herself design. She had a 25-year career as a fine goldsmith and jeweller. She was show chairman for several years with the Montreal Gem & Mineral Club. All this time, the family was growing, and Grammy was a happy centre of it all, she remembered every birthday of every grand and great-grandchild, and made sure to honour each one with much thought and love. Christmas was a delight, and if not able to be with her, she would and still now gets a phone call, so Christmas always is punctuated with cheery conversations throughout the day.

Grammy seemed youthful even up well into her 80s, still travelling on her own by bus in to Montreal to get jewellery jobs done. She also had 3 spells of cancer. The first in 1987, the surgeon told her at stage 4 she should go home & enjoy her time left. She insisted on fighting it, and after 13 months of weekly chemo, she was considered cured. She had skin cancer in the late 1990s, and then breast cancer in 2018 at 91. She has managed to maintain her positivity, and again is healthy as she is in her 94th year. She is a remarkable person, interested in all around her, and still with keen observance on what goes on around her. I am proud to be her youngest daughter, and be able to have my daughters enjoy their Grammy. Soon it will be our granddaughter's turn to call her by name, the youngest in a long line ... I can't wait!

~ Sarah Robinson
Picture
Picture
Picture

Comments are closed.
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Journal
  • Portfolio
    • Curriculum Vitae
    • Portraits >
      • Woman's Work
      • Extraordinary Women
      • The Grandmothers
      • Wunderland
      • Nasty Women
      • Heroes
      • Ahead of Their Time
    • 52 WEEKS >
      • Wildlife
      • Wildflowers
      • Storytellers
      • Gratitude
    • Fashion Plates
    • Sacred Vessel
    • Simple Pleasures
    • Altered Books
    • Free Art Resources
  • Galleries
  • eCourses
  • Login
    • Painting Animals
    • Painting Art Journals
    • Painting Backgrounds
    • Painting Bees
    • Painting Canoes
    • Painting CityScapes
    • Painting Flowers
    • Painting Hearts & Houses
    • Painting Landscapes
    • Painting Portraits
  • Contact