GRANT, Shirley E.
Ross Ferry
It is with great sadness that we, the family, regret to announce the passing of our mother, grandmother, sister and aunt, Shirley Elizabeth Grant, age 79, of Ross Ferry, on Friday, June 2, 2017 at the An Cala Unit of the Cape Breton Regional Hospital, Sydney after a lengthy illness.
Shirley was born on May 7, 1938 in Little Pond, Florence. She was a daughter of the late David and Jessie (Burton) Maloney. She was the oldest of five children, and was raised until the age of 13 in Dingwall, NS, before moving to Big Harbour.
Shirley worked at many different jobs over the years, from her first job cleaning MacLeod’s Cabins, then working at Alderwood Guest Home, Seal Island Motel, Grants Store, lunch and bus supervisor at Boularderie School, then opening our home to students from north of Smokey so they could attend Memorial High School and who quickly became “her boys”, and her final job was delivering newspapers around Boularderie Island with Da.
As a teen she met our Dad, Robert Grant when crossing over the ferry from Big Harbour to Ross Ferry at Grant’s Store, not only did they share the same birthday, May 7, but also 55 years of marriage spent at Ross Ferry before his passing in 2014.
Well known for her cooking, nobody could beat her tea biscuits, they were the Best! She had a love for fiddle music and going to ceilidhs, but her favorite thing to do was to sit around the table and “have a good chin” especially laughing and joking around, she had a great sense of humor.
Shirley was a long time member of the Eastern Star Victoria County Chapter #19, the AMS and Knox Presbyterian Church, Ross Ferry.
Shirley is survived by one son, David (Kim), Big Bras d’Or; two daughters, Brenda (Colin), Ross Ferry and Charlene (Emmett), Ross Ferry, with whom she resided. She was known as ‘Ma’ by many but affectionately by her four grandsons, Travis (Marissa), Ryan, William and Avery, and her great grandchildren, Parker and Journey. Also surviving are her two brothers, Angus Maloney, Port Hastings, Jackie (Linda) Maloney, Dartmouth, and by one sister, Lena Fitzgerald (Charlie), Upper Leitches Creek; brother-inlaw, Lloyd (Katherine) Grant; sisters-in-law, Mildred (Cyril) MacLean and Betty Grant, and by several nieces and nephews. She will be extremely missed by her sidekick and fur baby, Cheeko.
Shirley was predeceased by her husband, Robert Grant; her brother, Brian Maloney, and a grandson in infancy.
The family would like to thank her family physician Dr. Emily Beaton and Juanita, all of the staff at Baddeck Hospital, Victoria County Home Care (she loved seeing the girls), Cape Breton Regional Hospital ER and 4B departments, but especially An Cala Unit.
Visitation for Shirley will be held 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Tuesday in the W.J. Dooley Funeral Home, 107 Pleasant St., North Sydney. A funeral service will be held 2 p.m. Wednesday at Knox Presbyterian Church, Ross Ferry with Rev. Peter MacDonald officiating. Burial will take place at St. James Cemetery, Big Bras d’Or, at a later date.
Memorial donations may be made to a charity of choice.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.wjdooley.com .