CECILIA COLLEEN MOODIE
April 22, 1928 – July 8, 2025
With great sadness and in celebration of 97 remarkable years well lived, the family of Colleen Moodie announces her passing on July 8, 2025, in London, Ontario. Colleen was the loving and beloved wife for 60 years of Kenneth Moodie who predeceased her on September 23, 2007. She was the proud matriarch of a large and extended family, all of whom she loved deeply and who will love her, always. She was the devoted mother and mother-in-law of Michael (predeceased May 11, 2007) and Nancy, Kim and Terry, Shane and Sheila and Robin and Alison. Cherished grandmother of Heather (Don MacIntosh), Jennifer, Maija (Ryan Craig), Shane (Kelly Stafford), Morgan (Hannah Moodie), Amy (Andrew Ivens), Ken (Fiona Manning), Colleen (Tyler Greenough), and Sophie. Loving great-grandmother to Logan and Rhys MacIntosh, Owen Meating, Brenden Vresk, Ava, Colin and Brynn Craig, James and Charlotte Moodie and Margaret Moodie. Colleen was predeceased by her parents Owen and Amy Maguire (née Leeson) and her brothers John, Jim, Beverley and Bernard, and sisters- in law May (John) and Donna (Jim). She will remain in the hearts of her Maguire sisters-in-law, Ann (Beverley) and Karen (Bernard) and her Maguire and Leeson cousins. Also predeceased by Ken’s brothers and sisters-in-law, Lyle and Florence, and Don and Earlene and his parents James and Margaret Moodie. “Aunt Colleen” will be fondly remembered by her many Maguire and Moodie nieces and nephews. Colleen was born in a log cabin at Hilly Grove, Manitoulin Island. In her early life, she was shaped by the strength and warmth of the close-knit farming community near Manitowaning where she was nurtured to live a life of love, kindness and devotion to others. She travelled by lake steamer to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario to attend high school, where she met Ken and married. They raised their boys in Parry Sound, Little Current, and the Soo, becoming original residents of the “P Patch”. Lifelong learners and passionate believers in the power of education, Ken and Colleen made the then somewhat radical decision for her to return to Sault Collegiate Institute in the early 1960s to finish Grade 13 and attend North Bay Teachers’ College. This courageous decision not only helped fund their sons’ university educations but planted the seeds of opportunity for generations to follow. “Mrs. Moodie” was a revered educator among her colleagues and a beloved teacher to generations of students at Rosedale Public School. She later became a teacher-librarian after earning her Bachelor of Arts from Algoma University and further studies in Education and Library Sciences at Western University. She served her profession through her involvement with the Federation of Women Teachers’ Associations of Ontario and gave generously to her community. She chaired the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library Board and volunteered in hospital cancer care, offering comfort to families during times of grief. As a congregant of St. Andrew’s United, she gave her time and talents to fundraising, preparing meals for weekly community suppers, and tutoring refugee children. In 2007, Ken and Colleen’s children and grandchildren established a scholarship at Algoma University to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary and honour their deep commitment to post-secondary education. Colleen will be best remembered by following the way she lived. Shine your love on your family, your friends and your community. Colleen never forgot her Manitoulin roots and has come home to be laid to rest beside Ken in Hilly Grove Cemetery. Friends may gather at the Island Funeral Home, Little Current, on Tuesday, July 15, 2025 from 10 to 11:30 am. The funeral service will follow at 12 noon., with interment at Hilly Grove Cemetery, Manitoulin Island. Memorial donations to The Kenneth and Colleen Moodie Endowment Fund at Algoma University, the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library children’s collection or Algoma Regional Community Hospice (ARCH) will be gratefully acknowledged by the family.
