Obituary of Cleophas Edith "Cleo" Tobin (MacPhee), G.B.

October 18,1935 - September 5, 2019

 

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our mother, Cleo Tobin, after a brief illness, on Thursday, September 5, 2019, at the age of 83 years. Cleo will be lovingly remembered and deeply missed by her children, Danette (Albert), Shawn (Gail) and Paul (Kelly). She will also be sadly missed and lovingly remembered in the hearts of her five grandchildren; Justin, Ryan, Brett (Becca), Johnathan and Kyle and three great grandchildren; Natalie, Madeleine and Carley-Jo that she adored so much. She was predeceased by her husband John Tobin in 1993.

Born on October 18, 1935 in Glace Bay, Cleo was the fourth of nine children of the late Walter and Catherine (MacDonald) MacPhee. Aside from her parents, Cleo was predeceased by her brothers; Walter and Garfield and sisters; Shirley and Florence; sisters-in-law; Gerta, Karen and Colette; brothers-in-law; Mickey, Tommy, Peter and Jackie. She will be sadly missed by her sisters; Joan (Eric), Bernice, Maureen and brother, Kelly (Anne). She will also be sadly missed by many nieces and nephews.

In her younger years, she worked at Jacob Marcus store on Commercial Street in Glace Bay, where she was noticed by John, with whom she fell in love, married and became a devoted wife and mother. She was a long-time parishioner of Holy Cross Church, where she regularly attended mass with family and a special sister-in-law, Patsy, by whom she was also predeceased. Cleo advocated family unity and showed us how to be compassionate. Anyone who ever met our mother knew that she was a very kind and selfless woman. She was the best mother we could ever have. She so much enjoyed gatherings with family and friends, conversation, listening to music and singing along. At Christmas time, she looked forward to seeing her family and watching the great grandchildren; the photograph shown above is from Christmas Day, 2018. She also enjoyed quiet time and working on various puzzles or watching television programs from her favourite chair, situated in the corner, with her feet resting on the ottoman. Cleo loved the outdoors and could be seen most days on Hillier Street, gardening or tidying up in the yard with her daughter-in-law, Kelly, with whom she resided. For sixteen years we had a family pet Shih Tzu, Chelsea, and “Ma” looked forward to walking with Chelsea along the shoreline near our home. She was a very active woman, going on many trips to cottages, and to Halifax, where she enjoyed visiting her grandson Johnathan and shopping for others.

Over the past few months, she had her family by her side everyday while going through her brief illness. She felt the much-reciprocated love of all her family. On a particular day when she was not so energetic, her eyes opened wide and sparkled when she saw that we brought her three great-grandchildren to be at her side, something that no medicine could have done. Even when she was so ill, she gave us love and stories that we will forever cherish in our memories and hearts. She passed away peacefully.

There will be no visitation, a funeral mass will be held at Holy Cross Church on Wednesday, September 11, 2019 at 2:00 PM with Father Norman MacPhee presiding. Interment in Holy Cross Cemetery, Wallace Road.

There will be an opportunity to meet with Cleo’s family at a reception downstairs following the service. A few people have already offered flowers, others can make a donation to the charity of their choice if they choose. Online condolences can be sent to the family through the VJ McGillivray  website, Glace Bay: www.vjmcgillivray.ca