Margaret R. Sullivan

Margaret came to Canada in 1962 with a single suitcase, $40, and the address of a cousin she'd never met. She was 24 years old and had just left County Clare, Ireland, during one of the hardest winters the island had seen in decades.

She found work within a week — scrubbing floors at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto. Within two years she was training as a nurse. She worked those floors for 38 years. Delivered news — good and terrible — to thousands of families. Held hands. Said prayers. Stayed late.

She met Thomas Sullivan in 1963 at a church dance on Bloor Street. He asked her to dance twice. She said yes both times. They were married for 61 years — until Thomas passed in March 2024. She followed him 14 months later, quietly, in her sleep, in the same house they'd shared since 1971.

She is survived by her four children — Eileen, Patrick, Rosemary, and James — eleven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren, every one of whom called her Nana Maggie. She made the best brown bread in Etobicoke. She never missed Sunday mass. She kept every birthday card anyone ever gave her in a shoebox under the bed. There were 200 of them.