List:
The following article appeared in yesterday's Chronicle Herald, Friday,
August 31, 2007, pages 1 and 2. There was also a photo of them on their
wedding day.
Dave
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A memorial service will be held Saturday at Spencers Island Union Church,
where George and Merrydith Kerr were married 56 years ago. The Kerrs, who
both died earlier this summer, lived in Burlington, Ont., and spent summers
with their family in the rural Cumberland County community in which Mrs.
Kerr was born. (Contributed)
Fulfilling a mother¹s wish with special service in a place full of memories
By CATHY VON KINTZEL Truro Bureau | 3:56 PM
SPENCERS ISLAND ‹ "Right behind you, Buzzie."
With a frail wave and those final words, Merrydith (Spicer) Kerr died in the
spring, just weeks after her husband of more than 55 years, George (Buzz)
Kerr, passed away in Burlington, Ont.
"I was right beside her," daughter Margot Kerr said Thursday.
"I could hear her talking in a small voice. She was removing the oxygen from
her nose and it was like she was looking past me, far off into the
distance," she said of that touching moment, which in her mind confirmed
that her parents were eternally together.
It¹s a story she intends to tell Saturday during a memorial service for her
parents at Spencers Island Union Church, where the couple were married 56
years ago.
The service will be held at 2 p.m. and will also be attended by Ms. Kerr¹s
brothers, Larry of Invermere, B.C, and Jamie from Fredericton, along with
"anyone who meant anything to my parents," she said.
George A. Kerr of Montreal served as minister of Ontario¹s ‹ and Canada¹s ‹
first environment ministry in the late 1960s. Merrydith Spicer, known as
Mim, was born in the rural Cumberland County commun-ity of Spencers Island
along the Bay of Fundy near Parrsboro.
They met at the University of New Brunswick and both attended Dalhousie
University law school in Halifax. Merrydith was the only woman in their
graduating class. They spent most of their married life in Burlington,
practising together at the law office of Kerr and Hawken.
"The only criticisms my parents had for each other were said to their faces,
never behind their backs," Ms. Kerr said. "They were a complete team."
Ms. Kerr said her family spent glorious summers in Spencers Island, staying
in the Spicer home, which her grandfather built the year her mother was
born.
Her dad broke his hip in a fall on the beach five years ago. Her mother did
the same the following year. They never really seemed to bounce back
health-wise, and Ms. Kerr left her home in Vancouver to spend the last five
years with them in Burlington.
"I really think she died of a broken heart," the daughter said of her
mother, who passed away June 7 at the age of 76. Her father was 83 when he
died on May 21.
Since then, Ms. Kerr has concen-trated on fulfilling her mother¹s wish to
have a special service in Spencers Island after her death. She has read
through numerous newspaper clippings, the most precious of which is an
account of her parents¹ wedding, which was described at the time as being of
widespread interest.
"The bride, given in marriage by her father, wore an ankle-length Chantilly
lace dress with floor-length tulle overskirt, long sleeves and Peter Pan
collar," she read from the clipping.
It goes on to describe how the church was decorated with gladioli and how
her mother carried a crescent-shaped bouquet of white gladioli and
stephanotis.
"We¹re going to decorate the church just like it was," Ms. Kerr said, adding
that one of the wedding songs will also be played ‹ Oh Perfect Love.
"We¹re going to try to have as much laughter as tears. They were such fun
people."
(
cvonkintzel@...)
¹We¹re going to decorate the church just like it was (for their wedding).
We¹re going to try to have as much laughter as tears. They were such fun
people.¹
Margot KerrOrganizing memorial service for her parents