Cambridge woman had many talents, big heart
Mary Mabel Swayze of Waterloo Born: Oct. 25, 1933, in Cambridge Died: Dec. 7, 2023, age-related illness
When Estée Lalonde put her grandmother, Mary Swayze, in front of the camera for a YouTube episode of “What’s in my Grandma’s bag,” laughter erupted. Even after it was revealed that coins were frequently pilfered by a grandchild from the change purse she kept in the car.
Swayze was wise to this, which is why she kept an additional change purse in her bag. Better to be prepared than angry. Besides, when it came to her family, anything would be forgiven.
“She made her mark on the world,” said daughter Kelly Lalonde. “She was wonderful and kind and just funny.”
Mary Swayze was born on Oct. 25, 1933, in the Preston area of Cambridge, one of five kids. Her sister, Grace Wiegand, admits that they were spoiled.
“If we were asked to do the dishes and we didn’t, that was OK,” she said, adding none of them even had to get summer jobs as teens.
“We were allowed to be children and we really enjoyed life,” she said. “We were a very close family and had wonderful parents.”
Her father, Louis Wilkins, worked in construction while her mom, Minerva, stayed home and thoroughly indulged her children.
By the time they were old enough to work, Wiegand said, jobs were plentiful in Cambridge.
Before finishing high school, Swayze joined Bell Canada as a local operator in Cambridge, a job that would bring her more than a paycheque.
A co-worker had asked Swayze if she’d come along on a blind date with a young fella who was part of the work crew installing gas pipelines in the area.
Swayze was reluctant, as it was well known in town that there were plenty of young men on the construction team and all seemed to be looking for girlfriends. They had their eyes on the girls from the Bell office, most who were young and single.
Swayze had heard rumours that the boy she was being set up with might be a bit “fast,” as she admitted in the video.
So, she convinced her friend to switch dates. The other young man was Clifford Swayze, originally from Mowbray, Man.
Clifford also worked on the gas line, but he was a gentleman. They met in May 1957 and married in November.
A handsome couple, both were family-oriented (Clifford was one of 10 kids), so they were a perfect match.
Swayze had left her job when Bell moved the operations to Kitchener.
Clifford worked on the Cambridge crew for several months, but when the job was completed and it was time to move on, the couple purchased a house trailer that could be moved and set up wherever Clifford’s job took him around Ontario.
It was where they started raising three children: Curt, Kim and Kelly.
After a decade of this somewhat nomadic life, the couple moved to Waterloo, where Clifford got a job working with Kitchener Utilities as a supervisor.
When her kids were more independent, Swayze started working part-time at the Smiles’n Chuckles candy factory.
Lalonde remembers her mom coming home after her late shift, her pockets filled with rejects from the assembly line.
The kids were supposed to be in bed, but who could resist a soft hug from their mom who happened to smell like chocolate and have pockets filled with treats?
Her next job was at Columbia Custom Cabinets, gluing on mouldings.
It was a simple job, but her skills were recognized and she soon became a master woodworker, applying her trade among a male-dominated workforce.
This skill wasn’t completely new to Swayze, who had her own tools at home where she crafted many projects, from making picture frames to building bird houses. Swayze knew her way around a mitre saw and every other tool on the shop floor.
Her kids would come to the factory to visit during lunch break and find their mother sitting outside, usually covered in glue and sawdust.
Aside from her woodworking skills, Swayze was an expert baker, cook, crafter, gardener and an animal lover, particularly wild birds.
After a decade at the woodworking shop, the business was sold and Swayze took a job in retail customer service, a job more suited to her gregarious nature.
“She loved it and met all sorts of people,” said Lalonde.
Swayze retired at 65 and became a caregiver for Clifford, who had been diagnosed with heart problems and kidney disease. He died in 2016. She died on Dec. 7, 2023, age 90.
Lalonde feels blessed to have had parents like Mary and Clifford.
“Our house growing up was the house our friends hung out at,” she noted.
“My mom and dad were such good parents and everyone loved them.”