Obituary for Dr. Sheila Paprica (Mason)
The “force of nature” known as Sheila Mason was born to parents Oren & Alison Mason on March 9, 1938 in St. John, New Brunswick. She was soon joined by sister Bev and then a few years later by her youngest sister Christie. Sheila spoke of her maritime childhood with happiness: family was close-by and part of daily life and there were many stories of happenstances, charming neighbours, and a grandfather bringing rock candy, barley toys, and cinnamon “chicken bones” from his horse-drawn confectionery. Sheila’s Grammie Niles had a much loved summer house called Fairvale on the Kennebecasis river, where family would gather and spend time on the rocky shore. The Masons moved to Kapuskasing, Ontario where Sheila attended elementary and secondary school. It was there that she had the misfortune of acquiring a kidney infection that left her on (likely unnecessary) bedrest for several months. She made the most of the time, learning to “turn a heel” knitting khaki (aka karkey) socks for soldiers - an early example of the generous and creative contributions that she would make in the decades to come.
Sheila met her beloved Gordie in Kingston, Ontario where they were both in the MD program at Queen’s University. They married in 1960 and started their family in 1962, juggling studies, work, and newborn baby Susan. As one of the few women enrolled in medicine, Sheila’s path wasn’t easy. Difficult to imagine by today's standards, she and the other women were forced by one professor to leave class when the content on gender specific male anatomy was presented. Even more bothersome, she was only allowed to go into the pub if she had a male escort, but also asked to leave if she was giving the impression of having too many male escorts, i.e., her male classmates. With the odds against her, Sheila found a way to plow through and do the things that she knew were important, and she graduated near the top of her class in 1963.
When Gord finished his specialty in Anesthesia in 1969, he headed to Burlington to begin work at Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital. A few months later, Sheila packed up the kids - now Susan, Alison, Jennifer, and baby Diana - into the Rambler to reunite the family. Sheila and Gord bought a piece of land with a handshake and built a house on Pomona Avenue where all the girls would grow up. Sheila would watch her daughters play in the back yard out the kitchen window, and float in the pool after dark before bed. After Di headed off to kindergarten, Sheila went on to do her specialty in Family Medicine at McMaster University, and in 1977 she began her practice in Burlington where she stayed until her retirement in 2002. While she worked, she swam and coached synchro, was a leader at Brownies, gardened and sewed, carpooled, and volunteered. If you knew Sheila you might know that she was rarely, if ever, on time. It may have had something to do with her penchant for taking a bath with her book ten minutes before she was due to be somewhere else. Although we are pretty sure a bath was not involved, on one occasion she managed to miss the Toronto Island ferry with her charges while on a grade school field trip.
Camping was a big part of Paprica summer vacations, first in tents, then trailers, then as family campers for many years at YMCA Camp Wanakita. It was the perfect place, with something for everyone - three square meals a day, swimming, boating, cards, crafts, skit nights and the all-important ritual gathering of the Ladies-on-the-Beach (which was way better than it sounds!) There were also trips to Fairvale, to visit her Grammie Niles and a cheerful crowd of maritime relatives. The girls had a chance to experience the cold sweet water from a dipper at the hand pump outside, and have meals cooked on the big old wood stove in the kitchen.
Sheila was ahead of her time in so many ways, including her understanding of the importance of mental health. As a family doctor, she realized that many of her patients' visits weren't really about the specific medical issue they came in with, so she responded with the counseling and care that her patients truly needed. Her groundbreaking was not limited to medicine however, and she invented split screen viewing of the Olympics by placing a small tv on top of a large one. She was also an early adopter of unisex
gender-neutral clothing and haircuts, though admittedly with a focus on her daughters vs. herself. And, of course, she was a proficient and prolific knitter, quilter, and seamstress, long before millennials made those pastimes trendy. She even dabbled in needlepoint, crewel, smocking, bargello and macrame! It is quite possible too that Sheila first manifested the concept of a “Spoiler Alert'', as she would record hour after hour of golf, baseball, tennis, and curling (any sport really!) on the Sony Betamax, and loudly steer conversation away from any event that she had not yet seen in its entirety. Woe is the child who exclaimed, “The game is tied and it’s the bottom of the ninth!”
It was not all work at the Paprica house, and a big part of the play was Sheila’s love of musical theatre. She was a founding member of the Burlington Light Opera Society (now Drury Lane Productions), and took on roles ranging from chorister, to costume mistress, to props manager to box office, and executive board member. Favourite shows included Iolanthe, Brigadoon, The Sound of Music, and The Man of La Mancha, as well as the very popular Old Time Music Halls. Her dedication and commitment was evidenced by her performances as Alma in the Music Man. Night after night she enthusiastically pounded her chest proclaiming, “Here! Where a woman’s heart should be!” The fist shaped bruise she developed was not a deterrent, Sheila believed that the show must go on! Someone was always awake at the house on Pomona, and if it wasn’t late-night Sheila sewing costumes on a deadline, it might be an epic post-show cast party that nobody at BLOS would think of missing! Music was played and sung and enjoyed - loudly! Walking home from school it would not be unusual to know exactly what was being played from well up the block. Jenn and Di were once stopped at an intersection and heard a car approach blaring classical music, only to realize to their horror that it was their mum.
In retirement Sheila enjoyed her beautiful gardens, golfing, and quilting with her good friends. Gord was amazed that she hit not one but two holes-in-one (which was humbling compared to his own record of zero!) She was always reading and listening to books, and kept a detailed spreadsheet with synopses and ratings for all the titles. Sheila and Gord played bridge together since university, and continued online until early this fall. Over the years, they were able to take some great trips abroad with happy memories of cruising, and of interesting tours in the UK and France with friends. Hands down the best trips of all were the five times they made the long journey to New Zealand. She loved being able to spend many weeks with her sisters Bev and Christie, their husbands Eric and Nigel, and her nieces and nephews. Sheila and Gord saw so much of that beautiful country and were last there in the spring of 2018.
Early in 2020 Sheila was pleased as punch to be asked to contribute to her granddaughter Hannah’s Master of Fine Arts thesis. She sewed garments that ultimately hung as part of an installation together with Hannah’s drawings, making a powerful statement about chronic pain and invisible disability. This collaboration was incredibly meaningful to her and to Hannah, the physical creation of the garments being a perfect metaphor for the love and care of the maker, both as a physician and a grandmother. Her hands were never still. The things she made, and gave so freely, represented the enormous generosity of her spirit. It continues to be felt through the many quilts, sweaters, mitts, and hats that she crafted for friends and family, and donated to charity. Her presence is in these carefully made things, and also in the family recipes and traditions that she taught her daughters and grandchildren. She leaves behind a brood who are also makers, her legacy is handwork.
Although her accomplishments are many, Sheila’s most significant achievement was that of a loving and caring mother. Her daughters more than benefitted from Sheila’s parenting together with Gord’s: she openly showed love, was always supportive, taught responsibility, fostered independence and above all provided an incredible role model to influence how her four daughters could contribute to society as women. She often told her girls how proud she was of them and of the parents they became. Her instincts, like so many things about her, were ahead of her time.
Sheila died peacefully at home wrapped in Gord’s loving arms. They had been married for 62 years. All her daughters, sons-in-law, and grandchildren were lucky enough to have been able to share her last day with her. Remembering her with love are Gord Paprica, Susan & David Bullock, parents of Jacob and Hannah; Alison Paprica & Adam Di Carlo, parents of Elena and Juliet; Jennifer Paprica & Bill Buick, parents of Chip and Ben; and Diana Paprica, mother of Natalie.
Sheila chose to be cremated and her wish was that her ashes be spread at Sue and Dave’s cottage near Parry Sound, newly re-named Fairvale. Gord and the family sincerely appreciate donations to The Carpenter Hospice in Sheila’s name.
There will be a celebration of life in Sheila’s honor on Saturday July 15th, 2023, at SMITH'S FUNERAL HOME, 1167 Guelph Line (one stop light north of QEW), BURLINGTON (905-632-3333). The ceremony will take place from 1:00-2:00 pm and be followed by a reception.
If you are planning to attend the ceremony in person, RSVPs are not required but will help with
planning. Click here to RSVP.
There will also be a live broadcast of the ceremony (no RSVP necessary)
click here for link
Sheila met her beloved Gordie in Kingston, Ontario where they were both in the MD program at Queen’s University. They married in 1960 and started their family in 1962, juggling studies, work, and newborn baby Susan. As one of the few women enrolled in medicine, Sheila’s path wasn’t easy. Difficult to imagine by today's standards, she and the other women were forced by one professor to leave class when the content on gender specific male anatomy was presented. Even more bothersome, she was only allowed to go into the pub if she had a male escort, but also asked to leave if she was giving the impression of having too many male escorts, i.e., her male classmates. With the odds against her, Sheila found a way to plow through and do the things that she knew were important, and she graduated near the top of her class in 1963.
When Gord finished his specialty in Anesthesia in 1969, he headed to Burlington to begin work at Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital. A few months later, Sheila packed up the kids - now Susan, Alison, Jennifer, and baby Diana - into the Rambler to reunite the family. Sheila and Gord bought a piece of land with a handshake and built a house on Pomona Avenue where all the girls would grow up. Sheila would watch her daughters play in the back yard out the kitchen window, and float in the pool after dark before bed. After Di headed off to kindergarten, Sheila went on to do her specialty in Family Medicine at McMaster University, and in 1977 she began her practice in Burlington where she stayed until her retirement in 2002. While she worked, she swam and coached synchro, was a leader at Brownies, gardened and sewed, carpooled, and volunteered. If you knew Sheila you might know that she was rarely, if ever, on time. It may have had something to do with her penchant for taking a bath with her book ten minutes before she was due to be somewhere else. Although we are pretty sure a bath was not involved, on one occasion she managed to miss the Toronto Island ferry with her charges while on a grade school field trip.
Camping was a big part of Paprica summer vacations, first in tents, then trailers, then as family campers for many years at YMCA Camp Wanakita. It was the perfect place, with something for everyone - three square meals a day, swimming, boating, cards, crafts, skit nights and the all-important ritual gathering of the Ladies-on-the-Beach (which was way better than it sounds!) There were also trips to Fairvale, to visit her Grammie Niles and a cheerful crowd of maritime relatives. The girls had a chance to experience the cold sweet water from a dipper at the hand pump outside, and have meals cooked on the big old wood stove in the kitchen.
Sheila was ahead of her time in so many ways, including her understanding of the importance of mental health. As a family doctor, she realized that many of her patients' visits weren't really about the specific medical issue they came in with, so she responded with the counseling and care that her patients truly needed. Her groundbreaking was not limited to medicine however, and she invented split screen viewing of the Olympics by placing a small tv on top of a large one. She was also an early adopter of unisex
gender-neutral clothing and haircuts, though admittedly with a focus on her daughters vs. herself. And, of course, she was a proficient and prolific knitter, quilter, and seamstress, long before millennials made those pastimes trendy. She even dabbled in needlepoint, crewel, smocking, bargello and macrame! It is quite possible too that Sheila first manifested the concept of a “Spoiler Alert'', as she would record hour after hour of golf, baseball, tennis, and curling (any sport really!) on the Sony Betamax, and loudly steer conversation away from any event that she had not yet seen in its entirety. Woe is the child who exclaimed, “The game is tied and it’s the bottom of the ninth!”
It was not all work at the Paprica house, and a big part of the play was Sheila’s love of musical theatre. She was a founding member of the Burlington Light Opera Society (now Drury Lane Productions), and took on roles ranging from chorister, to costume mistress, to props manager to box office, and executive board member. Favourite shows included Iolanthe, Brigadoon, The Sound of Music, and The Man of La Mancha, as well as the very popular Old Time Music Halls. Her dedication and commitment was evidenced by her performances as Alma in the Music Man. Night after night she enthusiastically pounded her chest proclaiming, “Here! Where a woman’s heart should be!” The fist shaped bruise she developed was not a deterrent, Sheila believed that the show must go on! Someone was always awake at the house on Pomona, and if it wasn’t late-night Sheila sewing costumes on a deadline, it might be an epic post-show cast party that nobody at BLOS would think of missing! Music was played and sung and enjoyed - loudly! Walking home from school it would not be unusual to know exactly what was being played from well up the block. Jenn and Di were once stopped at an intersection and heard a car approach blaring classical music, only to realize to their horror that it was their mum.
In retirement Sheila enjoyed her beautiful gardens, golfing, and quilting with her good friends. Gord was amazed that she hit not one but two holes-in-one (which was humbling compared to his own record of zero!) She was always reading and listening to books, and kept a detailed spreadsheet with synopses and ratings for all the titles. Sheila and Gord played bridge together since university, and continued online until early this fall. Over the years, they were able to take some great trips abroad with happy memories of cruising, and of interesting tours in the UK and France with friends. Hands down the best trips of all were the five times they made the long journey to New Zealand. She loved being able to spend many weeks with her sisters Bev and Christie, their husbands Eric and Nigel, and her nieces and nephews. Sheila and Gord saw so much of that beautiful country and were last there in the spring of 2018.
Early in 2020 Sheila was pleased as punch to be asked to contribute to her granddaughter Hannah’s Master of Fine Arts thesis. She sewed garments that ultimately hung as part of an installation together with Hannah’s drawings, making a powerful statement about chronic pain and invisible disability. This collaboration was incredibly meaningful to her and to Hannah, the physical creation of the garments being a perfect metaphor for the love and care of the maker, both as a physician and a grandmother. Her hands were never still. The things she made, and gave so freely, represented the enormous generosity of her spirit. It continues to be felt through the many quilts, sweaters, mitts, and hats that she crafted for friends and family, and donated to charity. Her presence is in these carefully made things, and also in the family recipes and traditions that she taught her daughters and grandchildren. She leaves behind a brood who are also makers, her legacy is handwork.
Although her accomplishments are many, Sheila’s most significant achievement was that of a loving and caring mother. Her daughters more than benefitted from Sheila’s parenting together with Gord’s: she openly showed love, was always supportive, taught responsibility, fostered independence and above all provided an incredible role model to influence how her four daughters could contribute to society as women. She often told her girls how proud she was of them and of the parents they became. Her instincts, like so many things about her, were ahead of her time.
Sheila died peacefully at home wrapped in Gord’s loving arms. They had been married for 62 years. All her daughters, sons-in-law, and grandchildren were lucky enough to have been able to share her last day with her. Remembering her with love are Gord Paprica, Susan & David Bullock, parents of Jacob and Hannah; Alison Paprica & Adam Di Carlo, parents of Elena and Juliet; Jennifer Paprica & Bill Buick, parents of Chip and Ben; and Diana Paprica, mother of Natalie.
Sheila chose to be cremated and her wish was that her ashes be spread at Sue and Dave’s cottage near Parry Sound, newly re-named Fairvale. Gord and the family sincerely appreciate donations to The Carpenter Hospice in Sheila’s name.
There will be a celebration of life in Sheila’s honor on Saturday July 15th, 2023, at SMITH'S FUNERAL HOME, 1167 Guelph Line (one stop light north of QEW), BURLINGTON (905-632-3333). The ceremony will take place from 1:00-2:00 pm and be followed by a reception.
If you are planning to attend the ceremony in person, RSVPs are not required but will help with
planning. Click here to RSVP.
There will also be a live broadcast of the ceremony (no RSVP necessary)
click here for link