November 18, 1933 - January 28, 2023
In Loving Memory ~
On Saturday, January 28th, surrounded by her children, our mother, Mary Jane Hogg, passed away after a long, full and fantastic life. If a life is measured by the love given and the friendships made, then few lives have been as successful as our mom's. For her, motherhood was an unceasing story of support, encouragement, and true parental friendship.
Sadly, Mom had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, which presents well-known challenges. But it also gave her the ability to time travel through memories, randomly visiting any moment from her past.
If one's life is a mountain range, Mom could, and would, happen upon any stretch of it with effortless ease. Scaling the peaks of her life - love, marriage, children, grandchildren - and, on occasion, plumbing the depths of loss - and all layers in between.
With the tap of a finger, Mom could snap back to the birth of any one of her 11 grandchildren. We wouldn't know exactly where she'd land, but there would be clues. Then perhaps further back to Port Credit, Ontario, where she grew up, doing her homework in her Mother Edith's kitchen - math was her best subject.
Tap forward to the day in 1980 when our father, Fred, died when his light plane crashed in Glen Vowell, near Hazelton. Back again to her marriage to our father in 1956. He a young doctor, she a young nurse, where they met in the hallways of a Toronto hospital - children soon to follow.
And then, forward again, much later, to her devoted and loving partner, Al McGowan. MJ and Al traveled afar, were great walkers, and shared many wonderful days in the last two decades of their lives.
Mom was our centre, our compass and our rock. She wrapped each of us, children & grandchildren, in an unfailing, unconditional and deep love. Although challenging, these last years of her life held moments of pure sweetness and joy. Beneath the fog was the essence of our mother, a core that never wavered - her warm green eyes, that same voice we knew for decades, rising us from our beds a thousand times.
We are heartbroken and grieving, of course. But when the tears slow, and the grey skies turn blue again, this fog will lift from the valley floor, bringing into focus a majestic mountain range, reflecting the richness of a beautiful life well lived.
Mary Jane is survived by her children Nancy (Kevin), Jamie (Carmen), Penny (Doug), Michael (Lisa), and David (Beth), 10 grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren.
She was pre-deceased by her husband Fred Hogg (1980), granddaughter Nicole Jane (2017), and partner Alan McGowan (2019).