Donna Jean Curtis

It is with great joy we celebrate a life well lived and with equal sadness announce it’s passing. Donna Jean (Graham) Curtis, age 73 of Bedford and West Bay NS parted this life peacefully at the VGH Palliative Care Unit on April 1 after a year-long struggle with cancer.

Born in Glace Bay on May 3 1945 she was the daughter of Murray and Margaret (MacIntyre) Graham. She was predeceased by both parents, her sister Leone and brother-in-law Joe Campbell (Calgary), her sister Anita (Glace Bay). She is survived by her husband of 49 years, Dr. John Curtis, son Jason (Laurel) Minneapolis, daughter Sarah (Max) and grandson Oskar, Bedford. Also sister Paula (Ken) Markham ON and brother Kenneth (Lynn) Windemere BC. She leaves behind many nieces and nephews.

Donna was a spunky kid, always in trouble with her best friend Dot, winning highland fling competitions, skating, always on the go. At age ten she began to limp and show signs of a mysterious illness that baffled physicians. She was named the March of Dimes “Timmie” and interviewed on television by Max Ferguson. Her parents were told she “would be dead by Christmas”, but a chance consultation by a visiting pediatrician from Boston led to a vascular tumor in her right hip being treated with cobalt, an early and crude form of radiation. This saved her life but also led to her right leg not growing, a turn of events that would shape the course of her life. During her illness the community rallied around Donna and her coal mining family, as she made countless trips to the Children’s Hospital in Halifax, often alone, in a wheelchair or confined to bed, with only the train conductor looking out for her.

These early experiences shaped Donna’s character, creating a self reliance and courage that would serve her well throughout her life, but also gave her perhaps her greatest gifts: profound insight into others and empathy for their struggles. Growing up with a disability would have defeated many, but Donna did then, as throughout her life, took it on in her own outgoing way. She never thought of herself as disabled, and in time saw it as her greatest asset, believing that she was fortunate to have her challenges on display, while others had theirs hidden, and suffered in silence.

She went on to complete a B.A. BEd at St. F.X. returning to Glace Bay to teach Grade 5 for a year. Though a natural teacher she realized her heart was in being a social worker. Before starting her MSW at Dalhousie she had a hip replacement and on her first day off crutches a friend persuaded her to go to a Halloween party, where she met her future husband. He was struck by her beautiful hair (she was wearing a wig) and she by him pouring a beer into a glass instead of just handing her a bottle. On the night they met they sat on the steps of King’s Alexandra Hall talking until two in the morning, and never stopped for 49 years.

On graduation she moved to Moncton to join John and work at Family Services as a supervisor. After two years they did the popular thing of the time, “gave it all up”, and spent a year free camping all over Europe and North Africa in their brand new VW camper. Those were the days when you paid 50 cents a day to camp under the Pope’s window. By the time she got off the ferry from Tripoli to Naples, wearing her jalaba, tanned and thin, long hair parted in the middle, people only spoke to her in Arabic.

Not bad for a girl from Glace Bay.

Donna and John returned home and were “going down the road” as it was called, driving East to West with a plan to settle in Vancouver. They ran out of gas money by Toronto and stayed on living in their VW van in the front yard of a wonderful Newfoundland family on Dixie Road while they both found jobs.

A year later Donna began studying again at MacMaster University. Nate Epstein, the head of psychiatry, and from New Waterford was not taken aback by her “You know my uncle and grandfather. Give me a job.” (This being a standard Nova Scotia job interview.) He said he would do her one better and admitted her to the psychiatry residency program for a year if she would promise to go back and teach at the IWK and Family Medicine. And she did.

Of all her talents, being a mother was her greatest, and she would later describe her children’s early years as some of the happiest of her life. She created a beautiful home, filled with books, music, and laughter.

By the mid 80’s with the kids in school Donna started a small private practice which quickly grew to full time and a long waiting list. She became the preferred therapist for the provincial government, and many professional societies. One law firm she worked for demanded their insurance company pay her, and she became the first social worker in NS to be covered by insurance. Donna loved her work, and used to say she couldn’t believe she got paid because she would have done it for free. She loved helping people, and help people she did. As one client said to the waiting room “This is better than Sears, you get your money’s worth and more.”

Following retirement in 2010 Donna began a new chapter in her life, wintering in Florida and summering in her beloved Cape Breton, where she adored the music, the beauty of the landscape, but mostly the “connectedness” and kindness of the people. She felt most at home, and at peace, at her home on the shores of Lake Bras D’Or.

Those who knew Donna will remember her for her boundless energy, her wit and her laugh, which her kids dubbed “the Mom cackle” early on. Donna was above all a giving person, her selflessness shown by her devotion to family and in her final years, to her young grandson, whom she adored like no other. She was a nurturer at heart, never ceasing, in the words of her favourite author Alastair McLeod “to care too much and try too hard”. We her family have been the beneficiaries of her courage and drive, shaped largely by her early Cape Breton childhood experiences. She helped us all grow up and become better human beings. We think we can make it on our own now, but our world will never be the same without her.

In keeping with Donna’s wishes cremation has taken place and a celebration of her life will be held at J.A. Snow Funeral Home, 339 Lacewood Dr., Halifax, on Saturday July 6 at 2:00 p.m.

To leave an on-line condolence, please visit: www.jasnowfuneralhome.com