Doctor Alice Mary (Isherwood) Preston

Dr. A. Mary Preston passed away peacefully Friday August 9, 2024 at age 90 in the company of her husband of 69 years Charlie Preston at the Halifax Infirmary Hospital in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Mary was a physician and friend to many in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Uganda, Ontario and England.

Born in Toronto in 1933 to Canon T W Isherwood and mother Muriel, faculty parents at Wycliffe College, she lived there until as a young girl she accompanied her parents on their return to England. During World War II she was evacuated from England to a farm in Wales to avoid Nazi bombing. Returning to Canada at the end of the war, she went to high school for one year in Toronto and completed her diploma at Queen Elizabeth High School in Halifax. After pre-med at King’s College she became a medical student at Dalhousie University, one of only four female students in the medical class graduating with the MD degree in 1957.

In 1955 she was married by her father, Canon Isherwood, who was rector of St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Halifax to Charles (Charlie) F. Preston, PhD, who at that time was assisting with Anglican Ministry in Nova Scotia. She then interned in medicine in hospitals in Halifax and Sydney, NS and in Kingston, Ont., and spent one year (1957-58) in ophthalmology doing corneal transplant research. She and Charlie then went as medical missionaries to Uganda where he taught theological students and she worked as a general practitioner in community clinics and also taught science to senior high school students.

She had her first child David in 1958, and following the family’s move to Uganda, she was blessed with her daughter Heather and sons, Alan and Kevin.

Upon the family’s return to Canada in 1965 she acted as physician for Wilfred Laurier University, Kitchener/Waterloo, Ontario and assisted part-time in a general practice. After three years, the family moved to St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador where she accepted a post diagnosing respiratory diseases and then joined a group of GP's where she engaged in general practice and assistance in surgery.

In 1995 Mary and Charlie moved to St. Stephen New Brunswick where she substituted, usually for a week at a time, for a number of doctors. This involved being the only doctor for a few years in the hospital on Grand Manan one week in four for the resident physician. Many women of the island were especially happy to have a female doctor and expressed that appreciation to Mary and Charlie. Upon retirement from medical practice, Mary remained active in the life of St. Stephen until she and Charlie fully retired to Halifax to be nearer to family. In retirement she remained active, travelling with family, singing in choirs and in the congregations of Christ Church in St. Stephen and St. Paul’s in Halifax.

Much loved by her children, seven grandchildren and five great grandchildren, she is survived by her loving husband Charlie, younger brother the Rev. Stanley Isherwood and children, David, Heather and Alan, and pre-deceased by son Kevin.

A funeral service will be held on Thursday August 15, 2024 at 11:00am in St. Paul's Anglican Church, 1749 Argyle Street, Halifax, NS, reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Paul's Anglican Church.