O’Connell, Elizabeth Mary - Peacefully on Wednesday, July 4, 2018, age 94. Loving mother of Samuel Armstrong (Kristine Delkus), Jerrold [Joe] Armstrong (Laurie Bruvall), Jane Armstrong, Mary Ann Armstrong, and Patricia Egan (Tim). Beloved grandmother of Lauren, Joseph, Jake, Lilja, David, and Grace Armstrong and of Mary Jane, Barbara, Charlotte, Elinor, and Brigid Egan.


Predeceased by her sisters Kathleen O’Connell, Margaret McNeely, and Corenne Lang; parents, James O’Connell and Corenne Monaghan; and parents-in-law, Jerrold Armstrong and Lois Ozmun.

Elizabeth, then known as Betty, was born in Lemberg, Sask. in 1924 and spent her childhood there and in Melville, Sask. She attended Notre Dame College in Wilcox, Sask. for a year and then worked in Regina and Vancouver. A life-long lover of travel, she had decided to move to Santa Barbara, California when she met and married G. B. (Bill) Armstrong and moved to Carrot River in northern Saskatchewan instead. As Betty Armstrong, she raised her family in Nipawin, Swift Current, Regina, and Melfort, Sask.; Ottawa, Ont.; Yellowknife, N.W.T.; and Vancouver, B.C., as the family followed Bill’s work as a public servant. She was an affectionate and happy mother, the centre of our family; she loved raising young people. Betty moved with her children to Peterborough in 1975 and reinvented herself as Elizabeth O’Connell. She worked for many years at Trent University, first in the financial office and then as assistant to the master of Peter Robinson College, a job she loved. While working at Trent, she was able, 40 years later, to finish her degree, receiving her Honours Bachelor of Arts in Classics. Wherever she lived, Elizabeth made close and long-standing friends. She faced the challenges of her life with strength and courage, buttressed by her faith and her innate optimism.


Many thanks to the staff at St Joseph’s Health Centre (Toronto) and, in particular, to committed caregiver, Angelie Vias. Visitation will take place at Turner and Porter (Yorke Chapel), Friday, July 6, from 7-9 p.m. Funeral Mass at St Vincent de Paul Church, Toronto, on Saturday, July 7, 2018 at 1 p.m. Interment St. Peter's Cemetery, Peterborough, Ont. In memory of Elizabeth, the family would be grateful for donations to Special Olympics Canada, Covenant House (Toronto or Vancouver) or to a charity of your choice.