Marion Elizabeth Fry

The family of Marion Fry are sad to announce that she passed away peacefully in Aurora Ontario on January 17th following a long and happy 99 years of life.

Marion was predeceased by Cyril, her much loved husband of seventy four years who died in 2022 and by her three sisters and their husbands. She leaves three children: Alastair (JoAnne Agnew) Gretta (Phil Bowman) and Jill (Jim Nantais), four grandchildren: Emma (John Hopkins) and Alex (Izabela Boinska) Johnston, Peri and Claudia (Sam Guise) Bowman and three great grandchildren: Adrian Hopkins, Lenny and Matilda Johnston.

 Marion grew up in Kitchener Ontario, the second of four daughters born to Alfred and Charlotte Gofton. The sisters, Eleanor, Marion, Jerene and Annette, dubbed the “Board of Directors” by their husbands, maintained a close relationship throughout their lives. From an early age Marion was active and adventurous. Near the end of high school she worked as a “Farmerette”, one of many young women who took to the fields to help do the work of men away at war. In her final summer before university she and a friend decided to ride their bicycles from Kitchener to Huntsville. On the “Portage Flyer” steam train which ran between Peninsula Lake and Lake of Bays east of Huntsville she met Cyril, a fellow youth hosteller, who in 1948 became her husband. 

 Marion studied Occupational Therapy at the University of Toronto and when she and Cyril moved to Gravenhurst in 1951 following a year spent living in England she found herself working at the Muskoka Sanitorium, a job she held until her first child was born. Although she did not return to paid employment Marion was a tireless worker both at home and in the community. While Cyril was not afraid of a little limelight, Marion preferred to keep a low profile but she was always busy getting things done, whether it was organizing a nursery school, selling Community Concert memberships, canvassing for the Canadian Cancer Society, planting the flower beds at the opera house, serving as president of the Segwun Museum Society or sitting on the Committee of Adjustment for the town. 

 The culmination of this commitment to volunteering came when she and Cyril were instrumental in the founding of the Gravenhurst Archives in 1978. After that the running of this organization became a large part of Marion’s senior years. For this work she was awarded, with Cyril, a 2019 Lieutenant Governor’s Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ontario Heritage Trust. 

 On the home front Marion would tackle most jobs and she was an active participant in the building of the house on Muskoka Beach Road where she and Cyril lived from 1955 until 2022. She surrounded the house with beautiful flower beds and created a welcoming home for her children and later for visiting grandchildren. The whole family and her many good friends benefitted from her skills at producing everything from a delicious meal to a well planned expedition. She had a wide range of interests and passed down her enthusiasm and good taste to the younger generations.

 For 71 years Gravenhurst proved to be a perfect home for Marion and Cyril but they also loved to travel and during their lives saw much of the world including visits to six continents. Frequently it was Marion’s itch to explore that led to these journeys. They lived overseas on three occasions including spending six months in 1990 in China as part of a Rotary Teaching Exchange. And of course there were frequent trips to Australia where Gretta had settled. 

 As her memory receded Marion was less seen about town and after Cyril’s death she moved to Aurora where she has lived in a retirement home close to Alastair. The family is thankful to everyone who helped to make her final years comfortable. We will all miss her but feel lucky to have had her for so long. It was a life well lived.

 In keeping with Marion’s wishes there will be no funeral but those who would like to remember her are invited to make a donation to a charity of their choice in her name.