It is with great sadness that we announce that our dear Mary – sister, mother, grandmother and friend, passed away at her home in Thornbury, Ontario, on June 29, 2024. She was in her 67th year.
Born in Brantford, Ontario, on October 19, 1957, to Joan Ruth and John Campbell Lounds, Mary spent most of her formative years growing up in Meaford, Ontario, where she made friends easily and excelled in sports, particularly basketball and golf, often leading her high school teams to victory. Mary was fun, outgoing, vivacious, generous of spirit and loved a good get-together.
In the early 1980s, Mary gave birth to the two continuing joys in her life – Michael and Megan. With her husband Jim Chapman, and both sets of grandparents, Michael and Megan were infused with that joy and love of life, as well as with great skill on the golf course. Mary, like her mother Joan, had won the Meaford Club Championship – Mary while pregnant with Megan – which explains a lot about Megan’s subsequent career abilities and choices!
Mary went back to school and became a dental hygienist for several years, however, unsatisfied with that career, went on to complete her degree in education at York University and become a high school teacher at Georgian Bay Secondary School until she retired. In the final years of her teaching career, she chose to teach special education classes to challenged young adults. It was one of the ways her spirit shone and her heart was filled.
She loved to travel and revelled in her trips, whether it be across Canada and the United States, or even more far-flung locations such as the Dominican Republic, Galapagos, Kenya, and Japan. She was generous with time and gifts, and she was often very kind and thinking of others – especially those that were challenged in their lives. She welcomed with open arms the suddenly larger family her brother brought to visit beginning in the late 1990s, and had a special relationship with her niece Melanie, who happens to live her life with Down Syndrome. Mary was always enthused about taking Melanie with her on fun excursions shopping or to the day spa for a facial.
She would love a good laugh, and at times would be the only other person in the room besides her brother John that found something funny, and the two of them would laugh until they cried. It was a great bond. And although a series of unfortunate illnesses kept her off her game later in life, she recently rediscovered the fighting spirit that made her a joy and inspiration.
Mary leaves her son Michael James Chapman (Kate Mattice), daughter Megan Ruth Chapman (G.W. King), grandchildren Makala, Lou, and Finn, as well as her brother John Robert (Ellen McRae), and her nieces and nephews Aimee, Scott, Melanie, and Edward.
A celebration of Mary’s life will take place at the Marsh Street Centre in Clarksburg on Friday, July 26, 2024, from 4 until 7 p.m., tributes will be shared at 5 o’clock. Interment will take place at Lakeview Cemetery at a later date.
If so desired and as your expression of sympathy, memorial donations may be made to Beaver Valley Outreach, Events for Life, or the Meaford Hospital Foundation and can be made through the Ferguson Funeral Home, 48 Boucher St. E., Meaford, ON, N4L 1B9, to whom arrangements have been entrusted.
