BATHURST (MARTIN) , Prudence "Prue" Jean

English version only

b. September 24, 1923. Frost Village (Shefford), QC

d. March 2, 2024. Cleveland, QC

‘Prue’ was born at Elmsmead Farm to Gerald A. Martin (1884-1962) and Mary Selene (Blackburn) Martin (1892-1972), the fifth of nine children. She was predeceased by brothers Gerald, Erle, John and Milton, and by sisters Norma and Mavis. She is survived by sisters Rosemary and Janis. She was the widow of Eric George Bathurst of Montreal (1923-1972). She attended Waterloo High School and graduated in nursing from the Montreal General Hospital.

Prue lived a life of caring and kindness to others, first as a loving big sister to younger siblings  and then to numerous nieces and nephews. She was devoted to her parents. She was a tireless worker on the family farm, sterilizing bottles and filling them with Jersey milk for the Martin family dairy, and she often spent the night in the sugar house during sugaring to keep an eye on the fire. She made many quilts and hooked rugs, and learned to sew, cook and sing.

In 1963, Prue went to Montreal to train as a licensed practical nurse. She remained in the city to work and met her husband Eric, one of her patients. They honeymooned at Expo 67, bought a woodlot in the Laurentians, and had a happy marriage until his sudden death. In 1974, she embarked on her next adventure and moved to Nova Scotia. She worked at Berwick General Hospital for several years and then found a large house at Wilmot Station, Annapolis County, which she turned into The Willows, a seniors’ residence. The Willows was her project for decades, with vegetable and flower gardens that she designed and maintained herself. Nearly all the food for her boarders was grown with her own hands. After retirement, she continued to live at The Willows with her sisters Norma and Mavis (and Mavis’ husband Dave). In 2011 she and Norma moved to the Wales Home in Cleveland QC.

Things Prue loved to do included bouncing a baby on her lap, planting seeds and watching them grow, making maple syrup, doing crosswords, reading old novels, and eating dessert. She made great homemade wine and had three Golden Retrievers over the years. She was affectionate, capable, joyous and calm, always ready with a kind word or funny family story. Family gatherings made her deeply happy. It is difficult to describe the positivity and kindness that Prue radiated, partly as a result of her quiet religious faith. She was self-effacing yet confident, quick to laugh and always ready to help others. She saw the best in each of us, and we all felt as though we were her Number One. She will be missed! As she said not too long ago, “I need to go and get ready to go home, and I hope to see you there”. Yes, Prue, we hope to see you there.