The death occurred at Beach Grove Home on Monday, March 14, 2022, with family by her side of Miriam Edith MacLean (nee Jay) of Charlottetown, formerly of Meadow Bank, age 76 years. Beloved wife of Roddie and loving mother of Laurie (Martin Fobes), Jayson (Sheri Borts) and Todd (Savannah Belsher). Devoted Nana to Madeleine, Maria and Parker. Survived by siblings Eileen (Lawson) Drake, Allison (Marg), Muriel Jay Matheson, Cynthia (Mearl) Crane and Allan (Shirley) and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. Predeceased by her parents Roland and Marion (Coffin) Jay, sister Connie Thurber and brother-in-law Angus Matheson.

 

Miriam grew up in Mount Stewart immersed in a caring, sometimes loud and always fun-loving collection of immediate and extended family and friends, one where music was the footing for so much, whether it was the fiddle tunes played by Gampy (Lem) Jay and father R.L. or singing each Sunday with Roland at the organ and Marion and her siblings beside her in the church choir.

 

There were summer days at the shore with her gang of Coffin cousins and pocket change earned at the strawberry cannery, dances and lots of books — Miriam loved the little library in Mount Stewart where the librarian would often set aside titles for her most frequent patron. Mysteries and romances to fuel her dreams.

 

Prince of Wales College brought her to town and then a job at Canada Packers introduced her to a slick young lad named Rod who drove a ’64 Valiant convertible and somehow won Roland and Marion’s approval. Off they went to Niagara Falls before setting up in Sussex, New Brunswick. But the glamour of the big city drew Miriam and Roddie to Toronto soon after where two more kids were born amid the multicultural hub of Etobicoke. Miriam took to it all with a flourish, making fast friends with her Italian and Bosnian neighbours, taking her daughter to Brownies and hosting wild Maritime parties for her friends and family from back home.

 

Miriam lived for her kids. Later in life she’d cast back to the moments of their births with shining eyes — there was a regimented procedure bringing Laurie into the world at an army hospital in Sussex, the Carpenters playing on the radio as she sat holding newborn Jayson in Toronto and then Todd’s birth on a rainy Wednesday in 1978, a wish come true just before Miriam and Roddie started thinking about heading back to PEI.

 

Anyone who knew Miriam in her prime saw a force of nature on full display, and that was certainly the case in Meadow Bank and Cornwall in the 1980s and onward where Mom seemed everywhere — the Women’s Institute, Cornwall United Church, curling with Roddie, organizing fashion shows at the church hall, opening a little dress shop in Cornwall with her sister Muriel and generally doing ten things at once, always smiling, her hazel eyes flashing and arms open wide, ready to take you in for a hug.

 

Miriam went back to school with the same verve, making more friends at UPEI than you or I probably did and, undaunted by the age gap, knocked her BEd out of the park before taking up a teaching career later in life.

 

But Miriam was family through and through. She always carried the glow of growing up in Mount Stewart as the light guiding her way. Her kids grew up and took on their own lives, bringing her grandkids to shower with affection along with more music and more fun. She was so proud. She and Roddie travelled the world, hitting all the continents and often taking friends and family along for the ride. Australia, India and Italy were some of her favourites, and then there was Nantucket, home of the Coffin clan. Twice Miriam organized trips to that other beautiful island for her cousins and family.

 

Even in her last years, going someplace special with the ones she loved was everything to Miriam, and it didn't matter whether it was flying off for a week in Jamaica or going down the street in Charlottetown to a nice cafe, she loved it all. And to the very end, her first and last words were always, "When are we getting together?"

 

We’re together, Miriam, now and forever.

 

Resting at MacLean Funeral Home Swan Chapel. A private family visitation will be held. Funeral Friday from Trinity United Church at 11:00 am (at half capacity, to a maximum of 375). Interment later in Sherwood Cemetery. If so desired, memorial donations to Alzheimer Society of PEI or Beach Grove Home Residents Fund. Online condolences may be made at www.macleanfh.com.