Cheryle Jean Allan Macdonald

Cheryle will be dearly missed by her daughters, Jennifer Armour (Stuart) and Beth Kennard (Jason) and grandchildren Shelby Armour and Brodie and Brandon Kennard. She was predeceased by her husband John Macdonald.

Cheryle will also be missed by her brother Ken (Ruth) Ruddick, sister Heather Anderson, sisters-in-law Kathy Ruddick, Shealagh Hobson, Christine Mackie and their families. She is predeceased by her parents Ken and Vera Ruddick, sister Karyn Ruddick and brother Malcolm Ruddick. Cheryle will be remembered by countless former Stave Falls Scottish Dancers and their families, as well as by her long-time friend, Peggy Askew.

Cheryle was born in Stave Falls, British Columbia, and lived there most of her life. Together with her husband John, Cheryle built a house in Stave Falls that became home to her family and her dance family.

Cheryle was immersed in Scottish culture from a very young age, taking dancing lessons from Mary Isdale McNab and playing the Pipes with the Vancouver Ladies Pipe Band. She had a love for Highland and Scottish dancing which turned into a profound love of teaching. In 1959, at the age of 16, she started teaching, in 1965 she became a certified teacher and in 1969 she turned her hobby of teaching dancing into formally establishing her own dance school - Stave Falls Scottish Dancers.

Cheryle took her dancers on tour around the globe. From Winnipeg to the Yukon to Nova Scotia; Hawaii to Utah, Seattle and Disneyland; Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland; France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain; and Australia. The dancing school went on some of these trips several times allowing many dancers an experience of a lifetime. She was especially proud of having the dancers perform at Expo 86 in Vancouver and Expo 88 in Australia.

The dancers also performed regularly in local parades, community festivals, on Remembrance Day for veterans, for Robbie Burns Day suppers and in many long term care facilities for residents. Cheryle always instilled a belief that each dancer should give back to their community.

Through her talent and dedication as a teacher, her dancing school became one of the most highly respected schools performing Highland and Scottish dancing in Canada as well as internationally. More importantly to her, the dancing school became a very large family. In addition to teaching dancing, Cheryle taught each of her dancers a core set of values. They were encouraged to be a proud Canadian, a good ambassador for the school and their country and respectful of all people, their cultures and their values.

A big thank you to all the staff at TRIM for the care and kindness they provided to Mum these past 6+ years. Thank you to Kathleen and Janet for all the extra little touches and caring moments that made Cheryle’s time there so special.

There will be a graveside service for Cheryle at 11:00am on November 25, 2024 at Hatzic Cemetery, 34867 Cemetery Ave, Mission followed by a celebration of life tea to honour both John and Cheryle at 2:00 pm at Swaneset Bay Resort and Country Club, 16651 Rannie Rd, Pitt Meadows

We love you Mum/Gran and we will all miss you very much.

And we will all stand for one last God Save The Queen.