<div itemprop="description">Kathie Matchett, age 90, passed away peacefully after a long battle with dementia on July 22, 2024, surrounded by her loving family at the Lakeshore General Hospital in Pointe-Claire, Quebec. She is survived by her husband Jim, son David (Natalyn), daughters Tracey (Walter) and Susan (Ralph) and her grandchildren Christina, Anthony, and Daniel. <br> <br>Kathie was born to Robert Ruff Martin of Aberdeen, Scotland, and Louisa Martin (née Phillips) of Walthamstow, England, in Notre-Dame-de-Grace, Quebec on October 23, 1933. A year later the family moved east to Sherbrooke Street in what is now part of Montreal’s trendy Plateau area. The family also owned a cabin in Longueil, Quebec at the Excel Boating Club and travelled for regattas where Kathie won awards for her long-distance swimming exploits. <br> <br>Louisa developed cancer and went into a nursing home when Kathie was three years old. Kathie and her father moved in with his sister Dolly and her family on Delormier Avenue and Louisa died in 1940. Living in the flat below was Nellie Woodward, who quickly grew close to the family and, in 1941, became Kathie’s new mother. Nellie, known to everyone as Nanny, introduced Kathie to many cultural activities including ballet and piano lessons, the latter taught by Miss Deville, who Kathie rechristened “Miss Devil”. Nanny’s greatest influence on Kathie was passing on a life-long love of reading with the advice that “as long as you have a book to read you will never be without a friend.” Many years later, Kathie dispensed this valuable lesson to her children and grandchildren. <br> <br>Kathie attended Delormier School on Gilford Street then, in 1945, started at William Dawson High School on St. Joseph Blvd before transferring to Commercial High closer to downtown Montreal for typing and bookkeeping training. She later completed her education at Sir George Williams University with classes in bookkeeping and history. <br> <br>In September 1949 Kathie accompanied her stepmother on a three-month steamship voyage to visit family in England, and the Royal Doulton figurines depicting a balloon man and woman that they purchased on the trip still adorn the mantlepiece in the family home. This trip presaged a lifelong passion for travel. <br> <br>At 18, likely inspired by her father’s naval career in the first World War, Kathie joined the Women’s Royal Navy Service (the WRNS) and went for training in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia. Beginning of the 1950s she joined St. Dominic’s tennis clubs and it was around this time that the family moved to Byron Street in NDG. After the WRNS, Kathie took a self-improvement course at Barton and Taylor and was asked to do some modeling, which included many shows to exhibit clothes and hats for a store called Juliette’s. <br> <br>Kathie worked at Sun Life, where her boss gave her the nickname “Dutchie” because she shared the initials KLM with Royal Dutch Airlines. A few years later, in 1952, she applied for a job at Canadian Pacific in the statistics department where her comptometer experience came in handy and she later transferred to the Computer Centre where she was assistant to the chief clerk. Around the same time, Jim’s department of Car Accounting was moved into the Computer Centre and that’s where they met. They were married on September 12, 1959, and 65 years of fond memories followed. <br> <br>Kathie and Jim bought a house in Lachine, Quebec in 1961 and their children David (1963), Tracey (1966) and Susan (1968) soon followed. Their home was a short walk from the local schools and her children warmly remember being able to come home for hot lunches lovingly prepared by their mother. Kathie was very involved at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, serving on numerous committees over the family’s decades in the neighborhood. She also volunteered for many of her children’s school activities and, to their feigned chagrin, acted as chaperone on school field trips. <br> <br>Family summer vacations were usually two-week trips to places like Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and a grand tour of British Columbia and the Canadian Rockies. After retirement, Jim and Kathie expanded their horizons with adventures in Europe, Alaska, the South Pacific, and dream trips to South Africa and Australia & New Zealand. All of this was topped off with annual winter vacations with friends in Florida. <br> <br>Kathie enjoyed a full life until dementia started to rob her of her memories. She spent her last two years at Residence Rasam in Beaconsfield, Quebec and the family will be eternally grateful for the care given to her and kindness shown to Jim and the children by Kishanth and his attentive staff of caregivers: Thanes, Mary, Suganthy and Thushy. <br> <br>Kathie’s family will host a visitation at Rideau Funeral Home & Cemetery, 4239 Sources Blvd, Dollard-Des-Ormeaux, Quebec, on Saturday, July 27, from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM. The funeral will be at the same location from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM on Sunday morning July 28, followed by a reception and light lunch. <br> <br>In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made in Kathie’s name to the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation: Make an In Memory Donation - La Fondation de l'Hôpital de Montréal pour enfants (fondationduchildren.com). You may copy/paste the following link: https://secure.fondationduchildren.com/site/Donation2?df_id=1500&mfc_pref=T&1500.donation=form1&s_locale=en_CA</div>
