Obituary of Cathie Carter
Catherine Jane Carter
Cathie passed away peacefully on July 19, 2023, in her 82nd year. She leaves her husband of 57 years and best friend Donald; her sons, Ian (Chrissie) and Colin (Heather); her grandchildren Nathan, Maddy, Amelia, and Jackson; her sister-in law Elizabeth McNaughton (Don) and her nephews Scott and Robb McNaughton (Harumi, Alisa, Leo, Teo). She was predeceased by her parents, John and Winnifred Best and her brother, Michael Best (Patti).
Cathie was a devoted wife, loving mother, grandmother, and aunt, caring teacher and student counsellor, and a good friend to so many.
The family wishes to thank all the staff of Extendicare Kingston south wing for their kind efforts in making her life comfortable over the past four years and to Dr. April Kindrat for her compassionate care during the final stage of Cathie’s life.A celebration of Cathie’s life will be held at James Reid Funeral Home, 1900 John Counter Blvd, Kingston at 2:00 pm on Sunday, August 27, 2023 with reception to follow. For those wishing to view the livestreamed service please CLICK HERE.
Cathie will be interred at the Cataraqui Cemetery at 10 am on Monday, August 28, 2023.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Help Lesotho.
Cathie Carter (January 23, 1942 to July 19, 2023) – A Life Well Lived
Cathie was born in Montreal, the first child of John and Winnifred Best, and was joined three years later by her brother, Michael. By the late 1940s this closely knit family had moved to Kipling Avenue in Etobicoke where Cathie spent her formative years. She made many good friends during her years at Wedgewood Junior Public School and later at Burnhamthorpe Collegiate Institute and kept in touch with them over the years. There were also many happy family times with her Aunt Kit, Uncle Murray, and her cousins Betsy and Anne.
In 1961 Cathie came to Queen’s to pursue post-secondary studies. She loved her years as a Queen’s student where she again made many lasting friendships. In her final year at Queen’s she met Don on a blind date on Friday, December 13, 1963, and for both of them it was a lucky day since it was love at first sight. For the next two years there was a long distance relationship as Cathie moved back to Etobicoke to attend Lakeshore Teachers’ College in 1964-65, and then started her first teaching job with the Etobicoke Board of Education at Wellesworth Junior Public School the following year. Meanwhile, Don was finishing his legal studies at Queen’s which culminated in his being awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship to Oxford University.
On July 23, 1966, Cathie and Don where married at Islington United Church. Their married life in Toronto was brief as in early September, they travelled to England on a Cunard liner along with the other Canadian recipients of the Commonwealth Scholarship. It was a magical time for them both as they made many new friends on the voyage, during the first week of orientation for Commonwealth scholars in London, and after they arrived in Oxford. A few months after their arrival Cathie found a teaching job at the Crescent School (a small private elementary school in the centre of Oxford) where her students delighted in hearing her Canadian accent. Toward the end of their first year at Oxford, they purchased a new VW Beetle, allowing them to travel extensively in the U.K. and make a nine-week camping trip through Europe in the summer of 1967.
In 1968, Cathie and Don returned to Canada and Kingston where Cathie took up a teaching position at Centennial Public School which had opened a year earlier. They rented an apartment on Queen Mary Road where they met their first Kingston friends, Rick and Jane Warren. Two years later at that same building they had the further good fortune to meet two English visitors, David and Lesley Eccleston, who remained life time friends. Cathie enjoyed an active social life as new and good friends were made at Centennial School and the Queen’s faculty of law.
During her two years at Centennial School Cathie’s talents as a teacher came to the attention of the senior administration of the Frontenac County Board of Education who persuaded her to become a language arts resource teacher for the following year. During that year she travelled to every school in Frontenac County to offer advice to classroom teachers.
In 1971, her life took a much different direction when she became pregnant. That year Cathie and Don moved from their apartment on Queen Mary Road, to a new house on Bicknell Crescent in Kingston West. In October of that year, Ian arrived and Cathie threw her remarkable energies into motherhood, homemaking, and making many new friendships in the neighbourhood. The longest lasting of those friendships was with the Clark family with whom the Carter family has shared many happy times over the years. Colin arrived three years later and the family was complete, except for the addition of our dog Blaze in 1985.
In 1976, Cathie and Don moved to Toronto after Don was appointed as Chair of the Ontario Labour Relation’s Board for three years. Despite the disruption to her life, Cathie was soon able to form new friendships in Toronto, first on Wallingford Road in Don Mills and then on Lynngrove Avenue in Etobicoke for the last two years of Don’s term at the labour board.
Cathie, however, was a Kingston person at heart and was very happy to return in 1979 and make a home in a historic limestone row house at a downtown location on Clergy Street. Cathie loved that home and neighborhood and lived there for almost 40 years. We were fortunate to have the Carlson family as our immediate neighbours and a lasting friendship formed, a highlight of that friendship being our annual trips to the Shaw Festival together. Soon after her return she became an active member of Chalmers United Church and also a member of the Sydenham School parents’ council. It was also an active social time with the gourmet group, the supper club, family ski trips, and those wonderful summer times at the cottage with Liz, Don, Scott, and Robb McNaughton, the Clark family, and many other good friends.
By the early 1980s, Cathie was looking for a new outlet for her talents and joined the Queen’s School of English as an ESL instructor. What began as a part-time job evolved over the years into a full-time position as teacher and student counsellor. Cathie worked at the School of English until 2001. Over those years she formed strong friendship with her colleagues and left a lasting imprint on her students, some of whom still remain in contact with her.
Cathie took a break from her duties at the School of English in 1984-85 when the Carter family moved to Melbourne Australia for a sabbatical year. We were welcomed to Australia by our good friend Ron McCallum with whom we shared many happy times together including a trip together to Tasmania during the winter holidays. Cathie thoroughly enjoyed our travels in Australia with trips to the Great Barrier Reef, the Red Centre, and the Great Ocean Road.
Our lives began to change at the turn of the new century with the marriage of Ian to Chrissie Yao in 2000 and the marriage of Colin to Heather Cross in 2008. The year 2001 marked a new stage in Cathie’s life as she became a grandmother for the first time with the birth of Nathan. At that point Cathie retired from the School of English to assist Chrissie and Ian with child care. Maddy was born three years later and Amelia and Jackson arrived together in 2009. Cathie loved all of her grandchildren dearly and she put her full energy into making sure that none of them were under- indulged. Her retirement years also gave her full scope to pursue her love of travel. There were many happy trips over the years with Don and Liz McNaughton, Mike and Patti Best, Peter and Mary Carlson, David and Lesley Eccleston, and Peter and Willa O’Hare. As a great reader, she also became an active member of a book club and enjoyed the lively discussions and friendships of that group. At the same time, Cathie threw her full energies into community activities, serving as a board member of K3C and participating actively in the Outreach Committee of Chalmers United Church. Her greatest volunteer passion, however, was the Kingston Grandmother Connection which provided support to both Help Lesotho and the Stephen Lewis Foundation in their important mission to support African grandmothers attempting to deal with the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS upon their families.
Cathie was a beautiful person. Her smile could light up a room. She had a refined aesthetic sense, always making the right choice in what she wore and how she decorated her home. She was a loving mother and grandmother who took great personal delight in the accomplishments of her children, her two daughters-in-law (Chrissie and Heather), and her grandchildren. She was a devoted wife who encouraged and supported her husband. She was always a kind and empathetic friend who left a legacy of the friendships she made over the years, whether in Kingston, Toronto, Oxford, or Melbourne. We celebrate a life well lived.
