DR. ETHEL MARGARET MCPHAIL, MD (HERRIOT) -

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DR. ETHEL MARGARET MCPHAIL, MD (nee HERRIOT) 1922 - 2012 It is with sadness we announce the passing of our beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, Ethel McPhail on Sunday, April 15, 2012 at the Southeast Personal Care Home in Winnipeg. She had just recently celebrated her 90th birthday on February 17, 2012. She was Dr. Ethel to many but Mom to her children. Left to cherish her memory are her daughters Joan (Bob) McCallister, Portage la Prairie, Shirley (John) Kulchycki, Dauphin, and Cathy (Dennis) Takayesu, Montreal; sons in Winnipeg, Bruce (Mavis) McPhail and Gordon (Darlene) McPhail; 16 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her sister Marion Bryden, and sisters-in-law Sally Herriot and Ethel McPhail. She was predeceased by her husband Don in 2004 - her partner in medicine and in life for 58 years, one granddaughter, her brother Jack Herriot, her sister-in-law Audrey Martin, and brothers-in-law James McPhail and Alex Martin. Growing up in River Heights in Winnipeg, the youngest of three children, she attended Kelvin High and became one of only four women allowed to enter medicine at that time. Ethel graduated from the University of Manitoba in Medicine in 1945 (earning the Gold Medal). She had joined the army (Second World War) in her third year and graduated as an officer as well as a doctor. She married her classmate, Don, in 1945 and they moved to Pilot Mound and then Boissevain where they practised together for 29 years. She made regular house calls in the rural area, often requiring use of a bombardier when roads were closed and emergencies arose. She performed anaesthetics for surgeries in the neighbouring communities, delivered generations of babies, and along with Don, provided great care for the local residents. In 1976 they returned to Winnipeg where she spent a lot of her time helping out at the Community Clinic on River Avenue. Ethel never really retired and she was still working part time at the Misericordia Hospital in her early 80s. She always said she loved being able to help others and said medicine was the best hobby she had. She loved her time at Lake Max in the summer and she thoroughly enjoyed living in her house in Winnipeg on the Red River. She always had a canoe and a boat or two to jump into. She was an excellent swimmer and water skied well into her 60s. In the winter Mom skated in St. Vital Park and liked to drive her snowmobiles. She always enjoyed curling and was skipping at the Wildewood up until a couple of years ago. Mom especially enjoyed sharing these activities with her children and later the grandchildren (particularly the camping trips that Grandma took them on). She loved to travel and was always planning new exotic trips to foreign places. Seasonal tickets to the symphony, the opera, MTC and PTE were a winter necessity. Community was important to Mom. She was a long-time Girl Guide leader, served on the Turtle Mountain School Board, and the Brandon University's Board of Governors. Better education and better health in the rural communities may be considered as part of her legacy. In spite of her never ending curiosity toward the challenge of medicine she always felt the most important and worthwhile part of her life was her husband Don and their large family. She felt that to be blessed in this way by God was more than any one person deserved. The family would like to thank the nurses and support staff at the Southeast Personal Care Home in Winnipeg for their caring and kindness during Mom's last months. A funeral mass will be held at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, April 27, 2012 at St. Ignatius Parish, 255 Stafford St., Winnipeg. I leave you as moonlight leaves the water's face; As wind forsakes the fragile willows brief embrace. I leave you as the dew before the morning sun departs; With my memory and my spirit in your hearts. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Boissevain and Morton Foundation, P.O. Box 1075, Boissevain, MB R0K 0E0. For those who wish to sign the online Guest Book please visit our website. Chapel Lawn www.chapellawn.mb.ca 885-9715

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Apr 21, 2012