Obituary

After a brief illness, we announce the passing of our wife, mother, grandmother, and special and beloved friend to so many. Jean will be forever loved by Don, her spouse of 60 years and passed peacefully at the place most dear to her, the family home they built together. She will be deeply missed by her children Karen (Scott), Christine (Jack), Robert (Kim), Sarah and Scott (Lisa) and her 9 grandchildren: Rebekah, Elizabeth, Joshua and Hillary Wybrow; George and Henry Young, Zachary, Oliver and Silas Young. Predeceased by her father Private Robert W. Hillier (1944), mother Edna Cullen (2003) and stepfather Samuel Cullen (2012), Jean was born in Glace Bay, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and held her eastern roots and extended family there very dear to her. As a child she spent her summers in Glace Bay with her Mama and Da Hillier and formed a close and lasting bond with all her cousins. Jean loved nothing more than helping and serving others. She was a faithful member of St John’s Anglican Church for more than 50 years and was a constant supporter of the parish. Jean served as a member of the Altar Guild, the Parish Council, and on many fundraising committees. She will be forever remembered for her Christmas baking, Easter candy making and funeral luncheon/church supper duties which she thoroughly enjoyed doing with her cherished friends at the church. Her whole family will fondly miss being told not to eat the cookies on the kitchen counter as “they were for the Church”. Jeans’ outreach also went beyond the church, she was a longtime canvas volunteer for the Canadian Cancer Society, the Heart and Stroke Foundation in Hespeler and a reading buddy at Hillcrest Public School for many years. Drag Lake, Haliburton was a second home for Jean and Don and just as important to them as their roots in Cambridge. In their over 60 years on the lake, Jean coordinated the annual kids swimming races for several years and hosted an endless number of beach barbeque’s and Thanksgiving dinners with her lake family who were so very important to her. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to the emergency staff, the 5th floor staff and Dr. Graham at the Guelph General Hospital, as well as the Home and Community Care Support Services of Waterloo/Wellington Palliative Care Team of Nurses and PSWs that helped care for Jean in her final days. As per Jean’s wishes cremation has taken place. A memorial and celebration of life will be held at St Johns Anglican Church, 567 Queenston Road, Cambridge on April 12, 2024 at 11:00am followed by a luncheon at the church. A family interment will be held at a later date in Haliburton ON and Glace Bay NS. In lieu of flowers, donations to the London Health Sciences Foundation, c/o Multi-Organ Transplant Program, St John’s Anglican Church, Cambridge, or any other charity in Jean’s memory would be greatly appreciated.