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Catherine “Cathy” Elizabeth McKnight, 88, of Palm Coast, Florida, passed away peacefully on Feb. 20, 2025.

Catherine was born in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, the third of four daughters, to the late John Ross and Evelyn Maud Trenholm. Cathy and her sisters grew up on a dairy farm in Grand Pré, which prepared them well for life. 

She followed her older sister into nursing and graduated as a registered nurse from Victoria General Hospital School of Nursing, Halifax. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in teaching and supervision from Queen’s, and later earned a Master’s in Public Administration from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. 

Catherine dedicated much of her career to healthcare and appreciated an adventure, travelling with a fellow nurse to work at L.A. County General Hospital, California, in the early days of her career. While working at Hotel Dieu Hospital, Kingston, she married and began raising a family. She was director of nursing at Bivins Memorial Nursing Home in Amarillo, Texas, and was an assistant professor at the School of Nursing, Virginia Appalachia Tricollege Nursing Program, Mountain Empire Community College in Big Stone Gap, Virginia. She became director of quality management at several hospitals in east Tennessee, eventually retiring from Laughlin Memorial Hospital in Greeneville, Tennessee. 

She later moved to sunny Florida with her husband after his retirement. She was an avid gardener. Her greatest joy came from spending time with her family, whom she loved dearly. She was preceded in death by her husband, Russell Delbert “Del” McKnight (MD’60); sisters, Jean Neder and Florence Wolfe; and brother-in-law, Gerald McKnight (survived by wife, Joan). Catherine is survived by her sons, Darcy and Peter; daughter, Christine; grandchildren, Péter, Mikaela, William and Toby McKnight; her sister, Frances Cameron; her brother-in-law, Eric McKnight (and wife, Judy); and numerous other loving relatives and friends. 

Douglas Malcolm MacDonald, Aug. 14, 1946 – Feb. 11, 2025.

Twin, husband, father, grandfather, engineer, avid Mr. Fix it and lover of good chocolate. Doug was a solid standup person; one of those who are the backbone of a family and a community. He loved his wife and family and adored teaching his children (Ewen and Kyla) to ride their bikes, cross-country ski, swim at the cottage and skate on the canal in Ottawa. He loved reading bedtime stories but mixing them up to make his children laugh. He was delighted to have grandchildren and time to play. He greatly enjoyed observing the world through their eyes and helping them figure out how everything worked. He was a punster, especially with his children and then grandchildren. 

His values were clear early on. He was a quiet but steadfast activist for gay rights in the ‘80s and ‘90s and supported Indigenous rights starting in the early 2000’s as a United Church observer at Burnt Church, NB, when local fishers were harassing fishers from the local reserve.

He was Mr. Fix it. When his daughter, Kyla, was five, a friend accidentally broke her doll and the head came off. Instead of getting upset, Kyla’s reaction was, “It’s ok, my Daddy can fix anything.” And, of course, Doug fixed it. 

He loved family get-togethers and cherished visits from friends and family. He brought his engineering training to the kitchen, where measurements were to be taken seriously. Whether it was making granola or cookies: if you took a raisin out of the measuring cup, you were changing the recipe. Precision mattered.

Over 30 years, Doug worked for Bell Canada, Bell Northern Research and Nortel, mostly in Ottawa. In 1999, he retired and moved to Halifax. 

After retiring, his earlier enthusiasm for collecting and restoring antique radios grew. Doug adored planning and making the drawings for their condo in Halifax and then watching it being built. Many of his suggestions, such as lever door handles and higher wall plugs, were incorporated into other units by the developer. 

A major contribution to the community in Halifax was his gift of time to prepare and submit tax returns for those with low incomes, particularly the elderly and those experiencing homelessness. Initially, he volunteered with Access Nova Scotia. While there, he recognized that several financial supports, such as HST rebates, require a tax return to be filed, and many people who are marginalized were not able to access them. To help address this, he started the income tax return program at Brunswick St. Mission and at Northwood Seniors Residence. By the time he stepped down, he had prepared and submitted more than 23,000 tax returns, all for free, and all for those who needed help. He also helped the Canada Revenue Agency come to understand the importance of such programs for equity of access. In typical Doug fashion, he ensured the program continued with succession planning when he stepped down. For this work, Doug received the Sovereign’s Medal from Governor General in 2016 and a King Charles III Coronation Medal in 2025. 

Doug will be remembered for his intelligence, sense of humour (although not all appreciated his puns to the same extent he did), ability to “fix anything”, courage in the face of adversity and his deep love for his family: wife and partner, Noni (Sc’70) (U of Ottawa, MSc, MD) (55 years married); his children, Ewen (Alison) and Kyla; and his grandchildren, Frederick, Leo, Kevin and Joshua. 

At Doug’s request there will be no funeral or a celebration of life: we did that while he was alive. When asked about memorials and donations, he said, “I am giving my body and brain to science – hope this will be useful.” Instead of a service, he wanted people who knew him to share memories with others and pass along acts of kindness. As Doug said many times, he lived a wonderful and full life. He will be greatly missed.