MEISNER (Dickson), Mary

Born in Bankend Dumfrieshire, Scotland, April 4, 1928. Fifth of six children, for six years she was the baby of the family until her younger sister Janet came along to take on the role of youngest.

You may have met Mum, but to know Mary Meisner you need to know her as a few things:

school girl, farm girl, nurse, midwife, wife, mother, breast cancer survivor, grandmother, traveler

curler, crafter, golfer, organizer, friend.

Mary grew up on a small holding on the Cumlongon Estate in the Scottish Borders. Her school was on the estate as well, and one of our favorite memories was her story about all the school children being taken up to Cumlongon Castle where the estate owner the Earl of Mansfield lived. They got to see the giant Christmas tree in the foyer all lit by candles, the splendid decorations, and they had a special meal in the servants dining room and were given a real orange each as a special treat for Christmas.

When Mary was 11 years old, the second world war broke out. She carried a gas mask to school every day from the age of 11 until the war ended when she was 17. She recalled lying in bed at night with her sisters and listening to the German bombers flying overhead, prisoners of war helping with the harvest, and the constant worry, particularly about her older brother William “Wull”, who was in a Highland Battalion serving in the desert and in Europe.

Mary’s entire childhood was spent living on a mixed farm, with sheep and potatoes figuring prominently in her memories and all the work that they entailed. She would say later that her favourite time was lambing season when she would be in the fields with her father, helping the ewes give birth.

Mary moved from grade school to her nurse’s training, first at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary where she trained for four years and graduated as an RGN (Registered General Nurse), and then at Creswell Maternity Hospital where she trained as a midwife and graduated as a State Certified Midwife, so her whole designation became RGNSCMW. If you’ve watched the Netflix series “Call the Midwife”, then you can picture what Mary did upon graduation – she told the story that the children in the poor areas where she worked thought she brought the baby in the brown medical bag strapped to the handlebars of her bicycle. When asked how many babies she had delivered she simply said, “hundreds dear, hundreds”.

Mary actually arrived in Lunenburg by luck. A co-worker and friend were headed to Canada to work and over breakfast Mary said she would go with her. Luckily, Lunenburg Hospital wrote a nicer response letter than the other places they applied to so they decided to come to Lunenburg, arriving in 1959.

Upon arrival, Dr. Creighton told her that there were only two ways to be a Lunenburger – you either had to be born there or you had to die there.

Mary worked as a nurse at Fisherman’s Memorial Hospital for the next eight years primarily in the Obstetrical unit, and although in Canada by law the doctor delivers the baby, she would tell you that babies don’t wait for doctors to arrive to be born…

Mary and her travelling companion took every advantage to see North America, hitchhiking across Canada, taking trains and buses to visit many parts of Canada and the US – and everywhere they went they seemed to run into other Scots who would put them up, drive them places and tour them around.

As luck would have it, the nurse’s residence was not quite ready for the new overseas nurses, so they were boarded with local residents until it was. Mary had a room at Mrs. Browns where, serendipitously, a certain Douglas Meisner was also boarding. Years later Mary would point to Mrs. Browns and say that that was where she and Dad lived before they were married.

Mary and Douglas were married in 1961, in Ruthwell Church, Ruthwell, Scotland, after which a full reception was held – Mary always quoted her mother as saying, “We had so much fun after you left…!” and after a Scottish honeymoon they returned to Lunenburg to make it their home for the rest of their lives.

Mary was a fierce organizer, there was no stand back and see who stepped forward – with a telephone in hand she was an unstoppable force! Mary was a member of: the Curling Club – she once competed in the Provincial Championships representing the club and she was part of the force behind having a woman’s time that was not during working hours, the Yacht Club as a Social member, the Lunenburg Golf Club, Zion Lutheran Church saw her on the Church Council, as a sunday school teacher, Cradle Roll organizer, Youth Group leader, Social committee leader, Church Garden champion, church greeter organizer, and organizer of any reception that was held at the church – if you wanted sweets, sandwiches or both her book of names, numbers and specialties is an amazing read.

Once her sons came along, Mary became even more involved with the community. She served on the original Board of the Lunenburg Day Care Centre, as a willing volunteer on any school outing, as a chaperone for soccer teams, helping struggling readers in school, and organized craft and quilting groups when she decided she wanted to learn.

With her ‘partner in crime’, Lainie Porter, no task was too big for them. Discovering that the library at Centre Junior High School was closed and dark, they organized over 100 parent volunteers to open the library back up and made it an ongoing concern for well over fifteen years. Book buying trips to Halifax were a highlight, and one of her memories is standing at the bottom of the escalator with Lainie at the top, while the kids who had never been on one before got to ride it up and down.

Mary was a no-nonsense mother – friends said the family dog would tiptoe through the kitchen – yet her and Doug’s home was the local gathering place. Hundreds of hours of ground hockey and basketball were played in the driveway (and windows were subsequently replaced), their basement rec room was very well used and abused. All were welcomed and snacks were provided. Although she could be a fierce Mother when things weren’t right, many of those neighborhood kids could be found years into adulthood sitting at the kitchen counter chatting with Mary while she worked away in the kitchen.

Mum decorated the house for every holiday. Her storage room to this day holds neatly labelled boxes marked Easter Decorations, St. Patrick’s Day Decorations, Valentines Decorations… she always sought to bring out the positive. Mum loved to entertain; she had a dinner service for 16 because she needed it. She kept her links to the Lunenburg Hospital and any new nurse was invited for dinner and if they happened to be here over the holidays, they were invited for the holidays to stay at the Meisner’s in Garden Lots.

Mary was an avid gardener, bird feeder, animal lover, reader, card and game player, knitter, quilter, crocheter, embroiderer, crossword puzzle fanatic, letter writer, and puzzle solver. She always kept her mind active and challenged. She loved to argue and very seldom backed down. When she turned 80, she decided that she was just going to say what she thought going forward; for those of us who thought she already had been this was an eye opener…

Mary was very family focused. As children we went to Scotland every three years to visit family, and when she gained two daughters-in-law Mum was overjoyed! More family to mother! When two granddaughters were added to the family, she was ready, willing, and able to be Granny, relishing in the new name and all that came with it. Nothing ever got in the way of her spending time with her granddaughters! They loved her stories of her childhood, and she was always fully interested in what was going on in their lives.

Unfortunately, the afflictions of age boxed Mary in, reducing her ability to travel, organize, socialize, and just get out and do. She made the best of it, adapting to e-readers, home care, and the kindness of friends to fulfill her days. We owe a deep