Jane Dawson

Jane Keith Dawson (née Martin) 1934-2023

Peacefully at the Ottawa Heart Institute on Tuesday, February 7, 2023, surrounded by her family. Jane contracted COVID in late October 2022 and suffered complications and setbacks in the months following. She passed with the assistance of the MAiD program, which allowed her to leave at the time of her own choosing, for which she was deeply grateful.

Jane was born in London, Ontario, the child of George Ernest Martin and Sarah Rebecca MacDonald. The family moved to Ottawa, where she grew up on Sherwood Drive. She attended Connaught Public school and Glebe Collegiate. She moved to Montreal to study nursing at the Royal Victoria Hospital, graduating in 1955 as a Registered Nurse. While in Montreal she met her future husband George on a blind date.  Together and with friends they built a community of cottages on Lake Champlain, VT in the early 1960s, enjoying many good times and building life-long friendships. They moved briefly from Montreal to Sudbury in 1967 and returned to Ottawa in 1968. They built their home in rural Ottawa (the former March Township) in 1972 where they remained until 2019 when George’s deteriorating health necessitated a move back to Kanata.

Jane will be remembered for her very sharp and dry wit, which could quickly segue into total hilarity.  Her friends often described her as “the life of the party.” She was also known for her creative skills (sewing smocked dresses, Halloween costumes and bridesmaid dresses, hand knit sweaters, easter egg hunts with puzzles), her cooking and hosting skills (school lunches, family dinners, great parties, weekend guests) and her very famous baking skills (brownies, chocolate chip cookies, shortbread, donuts, plum pudding & hard sauce). Everyone was welcome in her home, including a revolving door of her children’s friends.

Jane was predeceased by her husband George and her sister Mary Plant. She is mourned by her children Gail (Reg Plummer), Keith (Anne) and her granddaughter Victoria Dawson. She is also greatly missed by her three nieces Marilyn Burans, Barbara Clarke, Shirley Plant and their families.

The family wishes to express their profound gratitude to the Heart Institute and the MAiD program for their exceptional and skilled care. The family is also greatly indebted to the staff of Bridlewood Trails Retirement Home for their compassionate care of both Jane and George over the past three years. Special thanks to her family physician, Dr. Elizabeth Caskey, for her skill and expertise in navigating us through this crisis.

Friends are invited to join us for a Celebration of Life on Saturday, March 11, 2023, at 11 am at the Carp Chapel of Tubman Funeral Homes, 115 Rivington Street, Carp. Visitation to begin at 10 am. Reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, please donate to a charity of your choice. Tributes, donations, and condolences may be made at www.tubmanfuneralhomes.com