Catherine Patricia Symons

Catherine Patricia Symons (nee Holdsworth), aged 87, died peacefully on March 30, 2020 in Ingersoll.

Cathy is remembered by family and friends as a woman who lived a purposeful life by putting her family first and contributing to her community in countless ways.

Born in Oxford County, Cathy came of age during World War II. She spent hours poring over Eaton’s catalogues with her sister Marguerite, cutting out clothing items to dress her paper dolls. Cathy lived next to the one-room Vandecar school, where she skipped grades two and seven. High school was further away, so she took the “school bus”: an old funeral hearse fitted with benches.

After graduation, Cathy was accepted into the prestigious Victoria Hospital School of Nursing in London. On a train ride home during her last year of school in 1953, she encountered former classmate and future soulmate Douglas McLeod Symons. Doug usually took the bus but chose the train that day, and was the only other passenger to get off in Woodstock. Shortly after, Doug showed up at Cathy’s door to ask if she would go to a dance with him. She said sure, but they’d better hurry — she already had a date that night, and he was on his way. Her other suitors disappeared as she fell for Doug. “To me it was like ‘coming home’ to a feeling of comfort and trust,” she wrote. The feeling was mutual.

Months later, they were engaged. “On a May night on a deserted country crossroad south of London, Cathy accepted my proposal,” Doug wrote. They married one year later, on May 15, 1954 at Dundas Street United Church in London, and enjoyed 65 years of marriage. To this day, Doug refers to Cathy as his bride. He was known to place both hands on her bum as she vigorously mashed potatoes. “They’re not quite mashed yet,” he’d say, “keep going!”

Sons Stephen and Jeffrey and daughter Lisa quickly turned them into a family of five. They  settled in Bramalea, enjoying a rich social life of original traditions: champagne brunches, Christmas Eve open houses, pool parties... The Symons’ home was a haven for kids who’d been kicked out, or babies whose parents needed help. For several years, the family would fast for 24 hours on Mondays and donate the money saved on food to a children’s charity — a tradition the family recalls fondly today, even if they weren’t quite sold on it in the moment.

Cathy’s charitable heart expanded far beyond her family. Being a nurse in the intensive care unit and psych ward meant she cared for others daily, fielding many marriage proposals along the way. In 1967, Cathy became the world’s first female president of a St. Vincent de Paul’s chapter. She was instrumental in the building plans for St. Leonard’s Place, a halfway house that remains open in Brampton today, and won Bramalea’s Woman of the Year award for her work.

When Cathy and Doug moved back to Woodstock in 1983, they once again opened their door to their new community, hosting pit roasts, picnics, and family gatherings. Cathy became an active volunteer at the Oxford Historical Society, visiting the archives twice weekly to keep the county’s historical records alive. This love of recording manifested in her personal life also. Cathy was a steadfast diarist, maintaining not one, not two, but multiple diaries: one for daily life, one for her garden, one for the health of her family, one for household maintenance…

Cathy took good care of everyone and everything around her, including the earth. She composted before it was common, grew food in her beloved gardens, made suet for the birds she loved, and reused everything she could. She mailed handmade Earth Day cards to family each year, educating on an endangered species or telling a story to bring us closer to Mother Earth. A gifted seamstress, she sewed many outfits, including her daughter’s wedding dress.

Cathy lived a life full of meaning, with a love for simple pleasures. A perfect day was one spent in the garden with Doug, followed by an old film, a modest meal, and a glass of wine.

Cathy will be missed by her husband Doug; brother Bruce (Anne); children Stephen (Lisa), Jeff, and Lisa (Larry Riehl); grandchildren Christopher (Kathy), Shauna, Ashley (Thomas Pye), Courtney (Stephen Jardeleza), Michael, Cameron, Brianne, Jessica (Jamie Bere), and Troy; and great-grandchildren Ethan, Ayden, Nixon, and Charles.

A celebration of Cathy’s life will take place this summer, on a date and location to be determined. We will not gather at this time to bolster community social distancing efforts. Nurse Cathy would approve.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in her name to the Norwich District Museum & Archives, Ontario Lung Association, Alzheimer’s Society, Crohns and Colitis Canada, Woodstock Hospital, or Victoria Order of Nurses.