Marian Raynard passes away — Knox College expresses condolences
We are sorry to announce the passing of the Rev. Marian Elizabeth Raynard (Knox MDiv 2012) on Thursday, October 7, 2021. The Rev. Linda Patton-Cowie (K’11), member of the Knox College Board of Governors and Minister at St. Mark’s Presbyterian, Orillia (Ont.), said:
Those who knew Marian would agree that she took a genuine interest in everyone she met. She remembered names, and family details. It wasn’t for show – she loved people. Marian was a good and faithful friend, who took delight in her many and varied friendships with folks of all ages. There was a certain peace and safety in her presence; she was a very good listener. Marian loved being a minister and was good at it. She lived out her vocation with a pastor’s heart and gentle spirit. It is hard to imagine the world without Marian. She will be missed.
Following is her obituary as posted at The Kincardine Record
Rev. Marian Raynard remembered for creating a circle of grace and hospitality wherever she went
By: Liz Dadson
Rev. Marian Elizabeth Raynard, formerly of Lucknow, died Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021, at the Hospice of Niagara Region in St. Catharines, in her 60th year.
Born in Wingham, Oct. 5, 1962, she is survived by her mother, Norma; siblings, Glenn (Donna) of Belgrave, and Mae and Brock of West Wawanosh; her nephews, Trevor (Emily) Raynard, Curtis Raynard and Craig (Bethan) Raynard; niece, Heidi Raynard (Isaac Baker), and their daughters, Kinsley and Kiera; and her uncles, Doug (Mary Lou) Raynard and Chris Raynard; and several cousins.
She was predeceased by her father, Bruce, in 2019; her grandparents, Cliff and Frances Murray and Nelson and Clara Raynard; and aunts and uncles, Dorothy and Donald Murray, Lillian and Russel Irvin, Ruth and Fred Shropshall and Patricia Raynard.
Marian was proud to be the daughter of farmers, and was an enthusiastic global ambassador for her home village of Lucknow. The first badge sewn onto her Brownie uniform became a life-long commitment to camping, learning, and leadership with Girl Guides of Canada.
The first Bible verses she learned at the Lucknow Presbyterian Church seeded a life in service to Christian ministry. In her college days, Marian worked at Camp Kintail, a Presbyterian Church camp near Goderich on Lake Huron, and the spirit of that place and its beach rocks and sunsets always drew her back.
After graduation from Centralia College, she worked for Wingham and District Community Living as a counsellor and manager of residential services. In 1993, Marian became domestic supervisor for the Iona Community, an ecumenical retreat centre on the island of Iona, Scotland.
Marian loved island life and greeting the thousands of visitors to the centre each year. She was part of Iona’s Wild Goose choral group that travelled around the United Kingdom to perform at worship services.
Marian dances in the street in Cuba during her Practicum in Mission course exposure trip with Knox.
Returning to Canada in 1996, she began a demanding pursuit of education, leading to her graduation from Tyndale University College with a Bachelor of Religious Education in 2004, and from Knox College, University of Toronto, with a Masters of Divinity in 2012.
She was ordained as a minister of word and sacraments in the Presbyterian Church of Canada in September, 2012.
For eight years while a student in ministry, she served the Ashfield and Ripley pastoral charge, and as an ordained minister, she served the St. John’s (Pittsburgh) and Sand Hill pastoral charge near Kingston, and the North Pelham and Rockway pastoral charge in Niagara Region. Marian’s manse mouser, her cat, Sally, was always in residence.
Marian created a circle of grace and hospitality wherever she went in the world. She was keen to know everyone’s story, with a great memory for faces, names and connections. While a patient in an operating room in Kingston, she discovered the university friendship between her surgeon and one of her high school friends.
She loved the adventure of travel, and she never took the same road twice to a destination because, “How are you going to know what’s new if you do that?” Every talent and resource Marian had, she put into the service of caring for others. To be a friend of hers was to be celebrated with a generous smile and hug, and cards and flowers on days of joy, and supported with limitless compassion and the practical application of tea, cheese and crackers in the darkest hours.
Diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2016, Marian faced health issues with courage, wry humour and more than occasionally, ice cream.
Perpetual peace is now with her.
Visitation was held at the MacKenzie and McCreath Funeral Home, Lucknow, Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021, from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m., and Friday, Oct. 15, 2021, from 7-9 p.m. Please RSVP at signup.com/go/deyWmSu if planning to attend. A private graveside service and interment will be conducted at Greenhill Cemetery, Lucknow.
A public celebration of Marian’s life will be held Nov. 1, 2021, at Camp Kintail, with further details available on the MacKenzie and McCreath Funeral Home website after Tuesday. Contact-tracing will be required and RSVP platform will be used.
In lieu of flowers, Marian requested memorial donations be considered for Ovarian Cancer Canada, the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, or Community Harvest, to support the needs of others; arrangements entrusted to the funeral home; www.mackenzieandmccreath.com.