Shauna was born on April 22, 1946 to the late Derrick and Margaret (MacMullin) MacDonald.
Her quick wit, patience, kindness, generosity and yes - devilish side, will undoubtedly be missed by so many. Her impact can be seen and felt throughout Cape Breton and beyond; her legacy will live on forever in her thousands of students.
Taking to the piano at the early age of 6, Shauna set out on a life long journey in music that saw great heights, many accolades and millions of notes over her 51 year career teaching in the studio on Cabot Street.
While attending Holy Angels High, where she played for the choir until the school closed in 2011, Shauna also started playing Mass for Shut Ins — she was 17 at the time, and contributed to that service for over 50 years. She continued to blaze a trail studying at St. FX, becoming the first women to play in the “Xmen of Note.”
Certainly the top choir director to come out of Cape Breton, Shauna was at the helm for the Sacred Heart, Cape Breton Regional Hospital, KOC, and the Gaelic Choirs. Together, they travelled and preformed at countless events in endless places over many decades.
Shauna was a gifted pianist who could captivate a room with her ability to dance along the keys, especially parties at Cabot Street. She would be quick to turn the success and spotlight around on her lifelong companions in all of her choirs as well as the accompanying musicians especially Kevin Orrell, Peter Gillis and the late Brian MacIsaac.
In 2001 she received an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from then, UCCB. In 2007, she was 1 of 45 Canadians who received the Governor Generals Caring Award. Most recently, in 2016, she was the featured musician at Pierscape, an annual event to celebrate the rich cultural music that Cape Breton offers.
Shauna is survived by her siblings Anslem (Kay), Stan (Stephanie), Terrence and Marg MacDonald as well as brothers in law Tommy (Judy) Doolan and Ray (Laurie Graham) Ivany.
Alongside music, she also dedicated her life to her nieces and nephews - teaching them all her craft and spoiling them at every occasion. Missing her eternally she is also survived by Melanie, Marc, Chris, Angie, Jeffery, Derek, Sarah, James, Stephanie, Tommy, Wanda, Kelly, Dwayne as well as 30 loving grandnieces and grandnephews.
She is predeceased by late siblings Lawrence, Pauline and Corinne, her late husband the love of her life Eddie Doolan, alongside two of her biggest fans her late father Derrick, and of course her biggest supporter, her ride or die to every concert, her late mother Margaret. In addition, her late mother and father in law Ray & Wanda Ivany, late brother in law Dwight Doolan, late sister in law Cookie (Jim) Pottle.
Waiting behind all of them; a big pearly-white grand piano that never goes out of tune to play evermore, with a comfortable bench cut out of a cloud and a full dish of mints not far away.
Visitation for Shauna Doolan will take place on Wednesday February 15th, 2-4 & 7-9pm at TW Curry Parkview Chapel. Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Thursday February 16 at 11 am at St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Church with Fr. Bill Burke officiating. A reception will be held after Mass at the St. Theresa's Parish Hall in Sydney. Interment will follow in Resurrection Cemetery, Sydney Forks. Masks mandatory. For those unable to attend, the service will be livestreamed via TW Curry's Facebook page.
Donations in Shauna’s memory can be made to the CB Regional Hospital Foundation. Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.twcurry.com
