"She made me a better person"

Jeff Fee has many warm memories of his wife, Mary Ann, but few photos of the two of them together.

“We tended to live in the moment,” said Jeff. “We weren't big on selfies. It was just about enjoying each other’s company, and our shared interests. We used to go camping in Algonquin Park, and I would take a picture of her, and she’d take one of me, but we'd never have one together,” he said, gazing at their wedding photo.

Mary Ann died on March 2, at age 65. She had retired from teaching in 2018 after 34 years in the profession.

“She was the math head at E.L. Crossley, and also worked with special needs students,” said Jeff. “She was the school’s swim coach for many years. The students — both the strong ones, and those who struggled with mathematics — loved her. Over the years, we had many knocks on our door from her former students, who simply dropped by to offer their thanks for her compassion and dedication.”

She was an honours student during her high school years at Pelham High and Crossley, graduating in 1975, before earning degrees at Western and Brock, and joining the teaching ranks.

Mary Ann Daniels grew up in Ridgeville, on Canboro Road, with her sisters Sharon and Tracy, and never lost her local roots.

“She was a very determined woman, having grown up in a hard-working family,” said Jeff. Mary Ann’s father was a sheet metal mechanic for E.S. Fox for 40 years, and her mother worked at the local Bell office as a switchboard operator, and also at Keith's Restaurant in Fonthill.

“Mary Ann put herself through university, earning money through picking tender fruit,” said Jeff. “Babysitting, sometimes. Teaching accordion at the Royal Conservatory of Music. She worked in Dunnville at a pickle plant, and also in an industry that made wiring harnesses for Ford and Chrysler.”

Mary Ann taught at Albert College, a private school in Belleville, after graduating from Brock’s Teachers College. She returned to Niagara, and was hired on by the local board, working at Thorold High, and Stamford in Niagara Falls, before settling at Crossley.

“We met through a mutual friend,” said Jeff. “I was working in the facilities department at the University of Waterloo at the time, and used to come down to Niagara to visit my friend Doug, who taught music at Stamford Collegiate. One weekend, Mary Ann was there at Doug’s apartment, and we kind of hit it off.”

A long-distance courtship ensued, with Jeff making the drive to Niagara from Waterloo most weekends. They married in 1992.

“Her job had better benefits than mine, and she had a little more seniority,” said Jeff. “So I left my job. It was the best summer ever. We were at the beach every day. I found work on the night shift at a chemical company, but ended up at Ridley College in the maintenance department, where I’ve been for 30 years.”

When they married, Jeff moved into Mary Ann’s little house on Effingham.

“The property has an acre of land that her dad had bought on a handshake as he was driving home from work one day,” said Jeff. “I built an addition on to the house, plus the workshop in the backyard. We never had a lot of money. But we made it work.”

Even after she retired in 2018, Mary Ann tutored kids at the Pelham library, said Jeff.

“She loved to keep her mind active. Mary Ann used to complete a sudoku puzzle during her morning coffee, which always amazed me,” said Jeff. “She was also a magnificent seamstress. She made all her own dresses. We both enjoyed vegetable gardening, and Mary Ann loved her flowers.”

She was diagnosed last April with lung cancer.

“Mary Ann was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia, but a CT scan detected a tumour,” said Jeff. “The cancer had metastasized, migrating to her brain. She had to undergo what's called whole brain radiation, which affected her ability to write, to do crossword puzzles. She also lost a lot of her mobility, and got to the point where she was dependent on a walker.”

The Monday before she passed away at home, Jeff and Mary Ann were given the results of her final brain MRI at Juravinski Hospital in Hamilton.

“We were told that she had two months to live without radiation treatment, or four months with the treatment, but that the additional radiation would destroy her mental faculties, her memory,” said Jeff. “The news was devastating.”

Mary Ann was an avid reader, plowing through novels, remembered Jeff.

“We lived a simple life here, homebodies. We had our aspirations to travel, to go whale watching on both the west coast and in Newfoundland. That's what we were gearing up for, but of course, after the diagnosis, that all changed.”

She was just a down-to-earth country girl, said Jeff.

“Mary Ann wasn't big on flashy jewelry or stuff like that. She didn't have anything to prove. She was such a good-hearted person, never speaking an ill word about anybody. Mary Ann didn’t like idle gossip, but was happy to talk about somebody’s achievements. And she made me a better person,” said Jeff.

Friends and family are invited to gather for a celebration of Mary Ann’s life at the Fonthill Legion on Highway 20, this coming Sunday, April 3, from 2 to 4 PM.