Mildred Gertrude McInnes

It is with heavy hearts that the family of Mildred Gertrude McInnes announces her passing on September 26th, 2019, following a long and courageous battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Millie will be forever missed by her husband and soul mate of over 41 years, Dan McInnes, and her four children and their families: Sylvia and Alan Wyse, Cory and Will Clarke, Rob McInnes and partner Kim Drohan and Bryan Hay. Grandchildren Sean, Erynn and husband James, Innes and partner Cara, Eli, Daniel, Nicolas and wife Kaitlyn, Alexander, and great-grandchildren Georgia and Sebastian will cherish the memories and stories of her love, encouragement and “up hugs!” Millie is also survived by extended family and friends: sisters-in-law Iva J. Yeo, Ann Hay, and Joyce Barron, brothers-in-law: Bill McInnes (Marlene) and Mac McInnes (Linda), plus many nieces, nephews and friends stretching across the continent and beyond. Millie is predeceased by her daughter Karen P. Hay in 2005, her first husband Dr. A.W.S. (Bill) Hay in 1973, her parents Alexander and Gertrude Barron, her mother-in-law Mary Irene (Nonie) Hay, brothers-in-law Dr. Rob Hay and Dr. Archie Yeo, her four older brothers and three sisters-in-law: Harold and Marge, Roy and Jean, Murray and Helen, and Norman Barron as well as her parents-in-law, Ken and Thelma McInnes. Millie was born on a farm in Macoun, Saskatchewan on January 12, 1930. Her family moved to the small, northern Ontario community of Barwick where Millie spent her school-age years. She attended the, then, Toronto Bible College with the dream of becoming a nurse. While working to support herself at college, she waited tables at Devil’s Gap Lodge on Lake-of-the-Woods where she met the young porter, Bill Hay. They married, studied and worked in the medical profession until Millie retired from her role as an operating room nurse at Grace Hospital in Winnipeg to raise their three children in the city of Brandon, Manitoba. Sadly, Bill passed away Christmas morning at the age of 38. Millie returned, with her young children, to her home in the Rainy River District and settled in Fort Frances, to be closer to three of her four brothers. Five years passed and it was at this point that Millie’s daughter, Karen, and Dan’s daughter, Cory, decided to introduce their respective single parent to the other. Dan McInnes and Mildred Hay found love for a rare second time, were married and, overnight, became the parents of five teenagers! Millie and Dan have been inseparable: curling, traveling, entertaining and spending time with family and friends in their backyard oasis in London, Ontario, their home since Dan’s transfer with Bell Canada in 1981. While enjoying their retirement together, the signs and symptoms of advancing dementia crept into their lives. The sudden loss of their daughter, Karen, at age 42, only accelerated Millie’s decline. Millie spent the last year of her life in the compassionate care of the staff at Chelsey Park Nursing Home. Her family would like to thank the kind and patient professionals of the third floor. We will all miss her smile and mischievous twinkle! Love you, Millie, Mom, Grandma, Auntie, Sister, Friend. Cremation has taken place and a private Celebration of Life will be held at a later date. Those wishing to make a donation in memory of Millie are asked to consider the Alzheimer Society London and Middlesex.