The Martin Girls. You cannot tell the story of Leona’s life without considering the context of her family. Leona was the second in a string of 6 sisters. Her mother, Grace and father, Herbert were both born in Scotland. Leona’s father left the family when the girls were quite young, leaving Grace to raise this family on her own. Grace worked as a seamstress and a factory worker to feed and clothe her family, thus instilling a strong Anglo-Saxon work ethic in her children. This work ethic led to Leona being recognized as the first female retail manager in Hamilton in the 1950’s, all while fulfilling her role as a wife, meticulous housekeeper and loving Aunty to a passel of nieces and nephews. Leona’s sister Lillian died at a young age but the rest of the girls remained close even though life took them in different geographical directions. The oldest sister, Francis, left Canada during the Second World War to become an English war bride, so, Leona took on the role of oldest sister. This manifested itself in a strong sense of duty as evidenced by her caring for her younger sisters and later her charity work at McMaster University Hospital. Never was this sense of duty and filial love more apparent than her hands on care of her sister, Berty, when Berty was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Later, Leona did all she could to lessen the hole left in the fabric of the lives of Marty and Joey, Bert’s children. Eventually she became surrogate grandmother to their children. She did all of this with the loving support of her husband, Colin. Colin and Leona were married in 1951 and remained a close unit for over 60 years. They never had children of their own but, as previously discussed, mothered their nieces, nephews and a wide variety of friends’ children. Leona didn’t travel much. She loved her home, her garden, her birds, golfing, long walks and her dog, Judy. Colin and Leona never owned another dog as the loss of Judy was just too hard. They DID know every dog in the neighbourhood. One of the remaining pleasures in Leona’s later life was feeding the neighbourhood dogs biscuits as they went for their walks with neighbours attached to them. This led to an amazing network of support as she and Colin became more and more frail. These neighbours would bring food, take out garbage and run errands. I cannot list everyone in this network as I know I will forget someone, but I would be remiss if I did not mention Amy. Amy visited Leona in the long term care facility several times a week in the last phase of Leona’s life trying to bring comfort by doing the small things that brought great relief; reading, rubbing her feet and shoulders, bringing her tidbits to tempt her appetite. I think this strong network of family and friends attests to the giving nature of both Colin and Leona as you truly reap what you sow. It wasn’t all Scottish sternness. I wouldn’t want to leave you with that impression. The Martin girls were always up for a good time and a bit of mischief. They were dressed to the nines at any time of day. Good manners and good grammar were expected at all times. However, they did have a penchant for “passing gas” at inopportune moments. In Leona’s case she would just say, “Oh, pardon me”. Their group childhood nickname was “The Fartin’ Martins”. Leona was the last of the Martin girls. With her passing there is truly an end to an era. We will all miss her but we know the Martin girls are finally kicking up their heels together again in fine fashion with Uncle Colin egging them on.   By Carol Slauenwhite May 09, 2016