Obituary of Susanne Eden MacPhail
We are deeply saddened by Sue’s passing and hold great memories and love for her.
Susanne (Sue) Eden MacPhail passed away on May 20th after a long battle with COPD. She leaves behind her twin sister Dina MacPhail Barnes, and older brother Geoff MacPhail. She will also be missed by her nephews Chris MacPhail, Stuart Barnes and Spencer Barnes, and her nieces Meghan MacPhail, and Aidan Barnes, and her grandnieces/nephews Hayden, (help me remember everyone’s names) and Celina.
Sue spent her life surrounded by family and friends she loved, still going out for lunch dates with friends, and movie dates with family, up until her last years. She was a committed mother to the cats that were part of her life, including Frank White, or Francis for short who passed shortly before her final hospitalization, as if he knew his mom wouldn’t be returning this time and wanted to be with her at the end. Some say she loved her cats more than her family – her family says it is a toss-up, but either way, Sue always shared the love she had in her heart with those she was closest with.
Sue took great pride in considering herself an independent woman who could take care of herself. At a time when men dominated board rooms around the world, Aunt Sue, as she was known to those around her, worked her way up to Director of Advertising for Shoppers Drug Mart. She earned this role through hard work, dedication, performance excellence and a close eye for details. If someone ever tried to bully Aunt Sue as a woman in a male dominated field, they’d learn a quick lesson that no one bullied Sue and lived to tell the tale. Surely history is littered with Men who tried to “put Sue in her place” and found themselves on the outside looking in. Fierce in her convictions, but with an open heart to change and listening, she welcomed new perspectives into her life right up until her passing.
Through her employment with Shoppers Drug Mart, Sue was able to meet many of her own heroes through promotional events, and her home was littered with memorabilia from her work days including signed pictures with star athletes such as Marion Lemieux, Tony Fernandez, Jack Morris, Joe Carter, Wayne Gretzky, figure skating champion Josée Chouinard, celebrities like Bea Arthur (one of her favourites), and countless items of great personal value to her such as pictures of her in the Blue Jays Dug Out, and hanging out with Team Executives from the World Series teams of the 90’s. One of her most cherished events was the Toronto Indy race (then the Molson Indy) and she loved her pictures with her favourite driver Danny Sullivan. She did a job that many today would consider a dream job. It wasn’t just rubbing shoulders with celebrities; Sue loved the excitement and work that came with the buying shows she would attend for Shoppers Drug Mart.
When Sue retired, she joined a swimming group, and she found some wonderful new friends. She stayed friends with Brenda and others when she moved from the townhouse complex into her apartment. She also remained friends with her Shoppers family, and they met often for lunches at the Shops of Don Mills. She was friends to the end with Gay and Rose who called her and enjoyed taking her out or just spending time with Sue in her apartment. Mostly they liked to go out for a meal or to visit friends.
Many of Sue's friends delighted in her sharp wit although some found it a bit challenging if they didn't know that was her sense of humor. Sue had a way of testing people, but if you passed the test, i.e. stood up for yourself, or joined in on the joke, you were “in”. We would warn our friends when meeting her for the first time that she was going to do this, because as she would say, she wanted to “keep you on your toes”. At the end of the day if you got Sue’s seal of approval, you were part of the family, and she would remember you fondly from then on.
With her family, friends and beloved pets at her side, she never wanted for company, and led a life of fun and excitement until her later years when her COPD combined with arthritic knees made it hard to get around.
Sue loved her family and was happiest when surrounded in their midst in her apartment for festivities. Sue was no cook, and she took great pride in having next to no cooking utensils in her minimalist kitchen. She did love her sweets and her ice cream. Any trip out with Sue always ended with a take-out meal for her to bring home. She was very fond of fast food of any sort and didn't have a big interest in trying new things. When goaded into it she would surprise herself by enjoying it.
She didn’t like cooking (more like refused to cook), but she often made an ice cream dessert served out of an orange that we still think about to this day it was so good.
Sue never married and she never seemed to have any interest in settling down with a fellow. She considered her life to be very complete. Sue was devoted to her family and was especially close to her nieces and nephews as well as her great nieces and nephew. She loved visiting her brother Geoff and his family in Lambeth, and festive gatherings, with Christmas being her favourite. Christmas was her favorite time of year, and she always insisted on buying the turkey. Each year, everyone in the family received a box of Shoppers Drug Mart Products from toothbrushes to soaps. Sue took her nieces and nephews each separately on a trip to Florida creating incredible memories for them all. She always made her family feel special.
In terms of twins, Sue was always the friendly and outgoing one with lots of personality. Making friends always came easily for her. She loved being in groups and stating her opinion. Sue and Dina shared a bedroom when they were growing up. One was neat and the other was not so much. This is when Dina told her father that she would build her own bedroom if she had to, and she did. Sue actually became very neat when she lived on her own, and her place was always tidy and spotless.
Sue had a singular mind and once decided no one would or nothing would change her mind. She refused to go out on her balcony saying that it wasn't safe even though she was on the sixth floor and her balcony was built inwards and not hanging off the side of the building.
Her favourite show was Judge Judy, and she loved her no nonsense style of getting to the heart of a matter, much like Sue herself.
She loved road trips -it didn't really matter where we were going as long as she was along for the trip. One of her favourite trips was the semi-regular trip to Niagara Falls (USA) and Buffalo for shopping trips to the outlet malls, Sam’s Club, Target, and the Walden Galleria. These trips were as much about avoiding high traffic times on the highways and the border, as they were the shopping. You were on the road by 7AM and out of the States by early afternoon!
She loved American made cars, and swore she would only drive GM cars for her entire life due to her loyalty to the North American car market from growing up in Lambeth, just outside of London, Ontario. She stayed true to this with her cars these last 30+ years all being Buicks. She loved driving and was one of the best drivers anyone knew – a mind like Google Maps, and control of her vehicle like her favourite Indy Car drivers. She only ever backed into parking spots and while she kept it to herself, she looked down on people who couldn’t reverse park. She once said while using her mirrors, if you need to turn your head to back into a spot you don’t know how to drive”.
She may have found back-up cameras to be like training wheels she never needed if she ever bothered to look at her car’s screen in the first place. She had no idea what to do with things like changing the oil or the clock. In spring and fall she went straight to the dealer to have her clock changed. She refused to pump her own gas and said she was giving the fellow at the gas station a job by requiring his services. This philosophy was similar to her thoughts on how every bag of garbage she threw out was being used to make ski hills for her family to enjoy.
We have no doubt that wherever Aunt Sue is now, she is surrounded by the friends, family and cats she lost over the years, though they are probably fighting over who gets to sit next to her in her all-time favourite car she owned, a 1976 Corvette, gleaming yellow, and blazing towards a distant horizon, blasting Shania Twain, Tina Turner, Rod Stewart, or Adele, the only CD’s she kept in her car.
There will be a service at Timothy Eaton Memorial Church (230 St. Clair Ave W) on Friday, December 5th, at 11AM, with a reception to follow at the church. All are welcome.
Please share a memory, photo or sentiment of Sue's life here on her memorial web page.
Uniquely entrusted to eco Cremation & Burial Services Inc.
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