Monday, January 02, 2006

A sad farewell to Uncle $andy

"Glenn Murray 'Sandy' McTavish, 83, of Shakespeare passed away in the Maples Home for Seniors, Tavistock on Saturday, December 31, 2005. He was born in North Easthope Township, Perth County on April 8, 1922, a son of the late Joseph and Jean (Taylor) McTavish. Sandy served as a pilot in the R.C.A.F. during World War II; he had been a salesperson for Rolland Paper; was a member of the Shakespeare Optimist Club; a member of the Exeter Memorial Branch #167 Royal Canadian Legion and the Stratford Saturday Noon Hour Club. He is survived by one brother, Grant McTavish of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia; two sisters-in-law, Lillian McTavish of Stratford, Dora McTavish of Exeter; several nieces and nephews and special friends, the Oldershaw family of Toronto. He will be expecially missed by Murray McTavish whose daily visit enabled him to remain independent. He was pre-deceased by two brothers, Donald McTavish and Gordon McTavish; his sister and brother-in-law, Isabel and Harry Darrel."

Uncle $andy was a wonderful man. He was a dear friend to my grandmother and grandfather and was considered part of our family. I think I was about 12 before I figured out that he wasn't actually a blood relative. For about 30 years, he welcomed my whole family to his farm every Thanksgiving weekend, and many of my childhood memories are of times spent there amongst his antiques playing kick the football in the tree, cards and sitting by the fire. His passion for old houses and antiques is probably what gave me the desire to buy our old house. I am sad that I didn't get to see him at my Aunt's house on Christmas day. I will remember his warm smile with fondness.

9 comments:

Beth said...

Oh shit, I'm so sorry for your loss. Too much sadness going around. (HUGS)

Wilson Clan said...

What a blessing that he had a long lived life full of great times and family.. I'm so sorry you had to say good-bye... :o( It's always too soon.. I also loved the special images you put into my mind when sharing your memories.. (((((((((Hugs))))))))

Just Me said...

I'm so sorry for your family's loss.

Unknown said...

Hello, my name is Connor McTavish and Glenn "Sandy" McTavish is a great uncle of mine. My grandfather is Donald McTavish and my dad Hugh used to work on Sandy's farm with Murray as a kid. There are so many questions I have about Sandy and I find that they always come to mind on remembrance day. If you have an email address that I could contact you with I would appreciate it because I never got to know Sandy very well and there is plenty I would like to know. Beautiful post, thank you for sharing

Motherhen said...

Hi Connor,
You can contact me at adri.fair@xplornet.ca I am not sure if I have all of the answers you are looking for, but I am sure that I can get in touch with people who have answers.
Adri

Marni said...

Hi there! We bought $andys farm from him and Connie to live here today. I see that these posts are not all recent but feel free to reach out if you see this!

Marni said...

*continue not Connie :)

Marni said...

Hi there! For some reason I’ve been thinking about $andy a lot lately so I’ve been doing some research. We bought farm property in 2004 and continue to live here today. I see that there are not a lot of recent posts on here, but feel to reach out to connect if you wish!

Motherhen said...

Lovely! I am sure that Sandy would be so happy to know that the property is still being loved. My current email address is adri.fair@gmail.com.