Obituary of Marie Thérèse "Terry" McIntosh
Marie Thérèse McIntosh, “Terry”, blanketed in love by her precious family and listening to her cherished great granddaughters sing her Happy Birthday, Terry McIntosh peacefully left her earthly family on June 28th, 2026, just two days short of her 96th birthday.
Terry is predeceased by her adoring husband George, parents Joseph and Ann Brunelle and thirteen brothers and sisters; Theophile, Paul, Alda, Olive, Martin, Emma, Albert, Walter, Johnny, her “womb mate”/twin Lucille, Harry, Dorothy-Helen and Joey. Terry will be missed by her children, Mali (Grant) and Ian (Joanne). Treasured grandchildren, Amanda (Scott), Rachel, Jordan (Gillian), Simone (Jean- Philippe) and Thalia who are Terry’s pride and joy. Terry’s precious three great-grandchildren, Riley, Maya and Charlotte are the crowning jewels in Terry’s life. Terry is aunt to many nieces and nephews from both the Brunelle and McIntosh families. She will be remembered fondly by Ken (Joanne’s son) as well as will be missed by her league of friends in many communities.
First, the family is eternally grateful to the staff at the Elden of Bradford and Southlake Village Long Term Care Home in Newmarket. The teams of staff provided mom with a meaningful, engaging and dignified final five years. She loved being part of each community and was able to fulfil her wishes to be helpful to others and participate in as many activities as she could join. Euchre nights, Rummy-Kub tournaments, crafts, music, books and social events filled her calendar up until her final week. Special thanks to Carys and Tracey McCann, Kimmy Tinney for helping to fill mom’s days with conversation, quiet walks and fun activities. Mom was cared for by an incredible team at Southlake Village. The compassion and love by the Personal Support Workers, Physiotherapy team, Social Workers, Lifestyle Team, Nurses, Nurse Practitioners and Doctors are deeply appreciated.
Terry lived her best life every day. Born in 1930, she lived an incredible life filled with family adventures. Terry was raised in a huge, loving family. The adventures of the Brunelle gang are legendary as they grew up on 84 Wright Avenue in Parkdale, Toronto. Terry developed a love of sports and dance with swimming in Lake Ontario at Sunnyside Beach, dared to jump from the old Hamilton Bridge, playing basketball at St. Josephs Catholic School, danced the night away at Palais Royale with her beautiful sisters and played tennis at the Boulevard Club. She continued her passion for tennis as a keen match viewer and baseball as a dedicated fan, especially of her beloved Blue Jays. Many of mom’s birthday gifts included time with her grandchildren and son in law at the Rogers Centre cheering for the Jays. She was even fortunate enough to be gifted a home run ball from a fellow spectator. He caught the ball and presented it to her as he could see how much she loved the game!
Married in London, UK to the love of her life, George McIntosh, they returned to Canada to raise Mali and Ian. Their home was one which welcomed family, friends and those who needed support. Each person was treated to Terry’s incredible cooking, lots of conversation and a loving place to rest. Terry believed that everyone had a gift and lived a life of example. While raising two busy kids, she became the community ultra volunteer. She spent her time at the YMCA and YWCA coordinating volunteers, assisting those requiring employment, teaching swimming and running community events. Terry lived a life of service to others, giving her time and talents to many organizations; Girl Guides of Canada, United Church, St. Anselm's Catholic Church, The Chi-Cheemaun Ferry at Manitoulin Island, Second Mile Club and Sunnybrook Veteran’s Centre. She was one of the kindest individuals on the planet, listened intensely to others and engaged joyfully in any and all activities presented to her.
Terry loved her family and extended family deeply. She was the family social butterfly considered the family event coordinator, hosting many events at the Erskine home. Weddings, celebrations of life, birthdays, showers and graduations were all opportunities for family and friends to gather, converse, eat and celebrate. Terry was the original “Pinterest Princess”, ensuring that our home was decorated in the theme for the celebration, always creating the décor with her creative vision and loving hands.
Terry is the original Craft Queen. Throughout her life she considered herself a “crafty lady”. She dabbled in so many arts and craft genres; stained glass, macrame, pop bottle butterflies, pressed flowers, decoupage, ceramics, mixed media, beading, sewing, smocking, crochet, knitting and most recently, cardmaking. Terry loved sharing her skill and talent with others often leading classes and workshops in her most recent endeavors. Terry ensured that her love of crafting was shared with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Those were treasured times for Terry when she was crafting with her crew! Having some of Terry’s handicrafts will be a constant reminder of her creative spirit and energy!
Terry was a genius when it came to repurposing items. She could literally create something incredible from junk. Mom is widely known for upcycling old fur coats into gorgeous Teddy Bears. This hobby started when one of her friends brought her a fur coat and mentioned she wanted Terry to make something with it. After some research,Terry found a pattern to create hand sewn bears. Over the years she created two hundred bears. Bears were created from fox, rabbit, mink, fox, beaver and racoon. Each bear had their own personality as Terry creatively used the fur features to create character. Terry donated many bears to charity and community auctions, the one closest to her heart being “Rebecca’s Hope” to support research at Princess Margaret in honour of her darling niece Rebecca.
Terry and George loved to travel. Trips across Canada, Europe, England, Texas, Florida and Scotland provided them opportunities to experience new adventures and maintain contact with dear friends. Their favourite destination was their home on Manitoulin Island. During the summers, they fully relaxed while playing cards every night, fishing, picking berries, making jam and hosting friends from far and wide. Terry’s biggest joy was participating in the annual Manitoulin Fair at which she won many awards.
Terry was proud to be a “very young at heart” senior. After her beloved George passed, Terry continued to travel with her daughter, granddaughters and friends. On what would have been her 60th wedding anniversary, she celebrated by attending an Elton John concert in Las Vegas, dancing to Crocodile Rock and Saturday Night! It was one of her dreams to gamble in Vegas and she did so in style. If we couldn’t find Terry, we just needed to search the slot machine aisle! River cruises to Europe, Alaska and the UK rounded out Terry’s international travel. Unfortunately , COVID halted Terry’s trips but she continued to dream of other adventures.
Terry was blessed to live in the Elden of Bradford community for her final years. She became a “Calendar Girl” for several publications of the yearly fundraising calendar, played cards and Rummy-Kub most evenings and looked forward to weekly BINGO games. Her days were filled with activity, social time, crafty hours and conversing with dear friends.
Terry lived each day with purpose, curiosity, and an open heart. Her legacy is one of love freely given, lives forever enriched by her kindness, and a family whose greatest blessing was to be loved by her. She will be deeply missed, lovingly remembered, and forever celebrated.
A celebration of Terry's life will be held at a later date.
Terry was very involved in helping others in the community. To continue her mission, please support others by donating to your local food bank or to Sick Kids Foundation.