I would like to inform you of the death of Rosemary McNaughton who died early Friday morning peacefully in her sleep (January 12, 2018). Rosemary was a playful, warm, and generous presence that made us all feel loved and accepted whether she had just met you or whether your were her closest family. She kept this lighthearted spirit through her long and adventurous life even through the challenges of the many stages of Alzheimer’s. She was born August 5, 1934 during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl and was raised on the homestead that her father Robert McNaughton built in Radville, Saskatchewan with her mother Hazel McNaughton (née: Fox), sister Joyce (Hennessy) and brothers Alan and Douglas. Rosemary went on to have two daughters: Vivian Carter-Shin (born 1956) and Roberta McNaughton (born 1966). She raised her daughter Roberta in Toronto, Ontario and came to search out Vivian in 1984. The reunion was a great relief and a joy to Rosemary and her daughter Roberta because it expanded their small family to include not only Vivian but also her husband Kevin (and the extended Shin family) and their children Olivia and Cailea. Rosemary was an example of unwavering integrity and incredible resilience to her daughter Roberta and her grandson Isaac (Tamblyn) whom she lived with for six years (2009-2015).

Rosemary was always ambitious and saw her future being out of the wind of the small town farm and into the big city. She completed her nursing degree in Regina, Saskatchewan from the Grey Nuns hospital in her early twenties and upon graduation was already head nurse. Soon after graduation she moved to Toronto and worked for the The Cancer Society in their “Little Red Door” program. She travelled across Ontario giving talks to the employees of large factories on the symptoms of cancer and where to get help. She was never content following the career of a hospital nurse, but used her degree to take her on several different paths including the Red Cross and then finally into the field of drug and alcohol addictions treatment where she came to the core passion of her life outside of her family and her love of art, fashion, good food and creating beautiful decor in each of her new homes with her multiple moves. She worked at The Donwood Institute for over twenty years where she found her second family as she moved her way up the ladder ending with the title of Vice President working along side her bosses and greatest allies Dr. Doug Macdonald and The Donwood Institute founder, Gordon Bell. She went on to work again with Dr. Macdonald in Lake Orion, Michigan for five years at the Oxford Institute once again as Vice President. She and her daughter Roberta had a wonderful relationship with Dr. Macdonald and his wife Marion and Rosemary even lived in their beautiful home for a fun filled challenging year until her work VISA, then American passport was issued. Her success with the Oxford Institute encouraged the St. Clair Health corporation to use her talents in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina to take on the responsibility of building a new luxury addictions facility from the ground up. She worked out of a small section of the Hilton Head Island hospital until the completion of the construction of the new facilities. The momentous job began for her with hiring the staff, creating the programming, hiring the architects, having roads built to the wooded location, designing the functionality of the building, buying the furniture, all while running the treatment centre out of a temporary space. Somehow she managed to find the time go to antique auctions to find original pieces to make the new space feel special. Her work in the addictions field brought her to live in Bermuda for five years as the president of the government funded women’s addictions centre.

She loved adventure and change. Her face would light up at the prospect of a new challenge, a new move, and so she lived the life she wanted with the love and support of those that adored her. Others left to cherish her memory are sister-in-law Alice (Douglas) McNaughton, cousin Lorna Smith who was there all day at the farm the day Rosemary was born, and her numerous nieces and nephews, cousins and friends

We are so grateful for your love and support. In lieu of flowers if you would like to donate in Rosemary McNaughton's name to either of these charities we would be so pleased.

- Kensington Foundation: registered charity number 119230092 RR0001
This is the official name of the foundation; Kensington Gardens is a subset, and funds can be directed to Kensington Gardens or left to the discretion of the foundation.
https://www.kensingtonhealth.org/Donations/In-Memory-Donation.aspx

- Alzheimer Society of Canada: registered charity number 118784925 RR0001
can donate from: http://www.alzheimer.ca/en/Home (donate button on the right)